Its a pea on wheels. Remember the first-generation Kia Picanto? Or the Picanto at all?
The bubbly Kia Picanto is the cutesy little hatchback that did sales numbers in the 2000s, the equivalent to the Nissan March of the 2000s and maybe the Mitsubishi Space Star of the 2010s, and now the BYD ATTO 2 in the 2020s.
Somehow the March did survive, the Picanto did also survive (as you can see), the Space Star somehow mostly vanished in the last one or two years and the ATTO 2s will either survive due to good Chinese electronics, or not due to obsolescence by the manufacturer or buyers (or government, cause, you know, 10 year COE, blah blah blah).
Anyhow, the facelifted Picanto is often the common sight, the rounded headlight units that were sold in more favorable years. These pre-facelift cars with sharper design are not commonly seen thanks to their registration dates within 2004 to 2007 (production started in late-2003). With current COE prices becoming haywire starting in 2023 that is a similar trend in the 2010s and 2000s (in epic proportion now), there’s a link to why these cars almost hardly survive.
This would be one of two pre-facelift first-generation Picantos that I know of. This unit in a cool lime green still has its original tri-spoke hudcaps and is the “enthusiast” pick, with a 5-speed manual transmission mated to its 1.1-litre four-cylinder.
When it was launched in 2004, the Picanto was sold at S$51,999 with COE (S$3,000 for an automatic), with AutoCar magazine describing it as more than one step above the transportation ladder: “Kia’s new entry level runabout is however thankfully far from being just a step above the MRT or bus- even if it came in plain old vanilla white.”
Information is scarce about trim level, but with a SGX-plate (June 2007), would guess that Kia eventually gave the LX trim painted door mirrors and handles – the 2004 press car did not have them!
Sadly, not even a used 5-year COE renewal is cheaper than the Picanto back in the day. It isn’t desirable and still is considered a cheap and basic car (which it is), meaning those who drove them to the end of their COE tenures would be happy to trade-in or sell away for an upgrade. And so these – pre-facelift to first facelift to second facelift (in 2009) – have all become very rare to see now.
~Efini
Gallery:
*Photos were taken May 22 2025.
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