Just months after its launch, the sporty Kia Picanto three-door, available exclusively in Europe, has been honoured with the coveted iF product design award 2012. This award recognises design quality alongside a number of other criteria, including workmanship, innovation and eco-friendliness.
Picanto’s commendation is Kia’s fourth iF product design award in three years, following prizes for the Venga B-segment MPV, Sportage compact SUV and Optima mid-size saloon. Additionally, the brand has won the red dot design award four times in recent years.
“Receiving the iF product design award for the new Kia Picanto is a great success for our design team and it is welcome recognition of our brand’s design-oriented strategy,” said Kia’s Chief Design Officer, Peter Schreyer. “The second generation Picanto displays a very purposeful, self-assured design, and its sportiness is particularly underscored by the three-door version.”
The Picanto boasts bold and dynamic styling, high-quality interior fittings and a host of class-leading features. It is specifically aimed at the steadily increasing number of discerning consumers wishing to ‘downsize’ to a smaller car.
In most markets, Picanto is available with two highly-efficient petrol engines that, in combination with the optional automatic stop-start ISG system, reduces CO2emissions to as little as 95 g/km. Kia’s unique seven-year/100,000 mile warranty comes as standard.
The new Picanto is the first to be offered in three-door form where it is expected to account for 45 per cent of total Picanto sales in the UK.
Since its launch in 1953, the iF product design award has been conferred annually and is among the world’s most important prizes for excellence in design. The award has its origins in the “Die gute Industrieform” (Good Industrial Design) product shows initiated by Hanover Messe and is now one of the world’s largest design competitions. For 2012, a total of 2,923 products were registered in 16 different categories. The Kia Picanto was honoured in the ‘Transportation Design’ category, which includes cars, ships, trains and aircraft.
