Kia has publicly announced today that it is remaining committed to the Picanto city car for the UK car market, for as long as it is allowed to. The Picanto has been on sale in its various generations in the UK since 2004 and has long been very affordable. The Kia UK CEO spoke to Autocar today and he reiterated that the "ability to have a car as small as Picanto and as big as an EV9, with a range of four different powertrains, gives us a product for everyone."

Of course, in just five years, by 2030 - every car manufacturer who sells cars in the UK will need to stop selling pure ICE models. Between 2030 and 2035, the UK government will allow some hybrids to be sold, but after that only zero-emission vehicles can be sold, which means pure EVs.

Kia a been reported to be considering an EV model that could replace the Picanto, such as an EV1. However, this remains to be seen.

"We upgraded Picanto in the middle of last year and we’ve got much better supply for this year – and I think there absolutely is a marketplace for small city cars."

Paul Philpott - Kia UK CEO

Many other car manufacturers have been pulling back on small, affordable city cars. Fiat stopped offering the pure petrol 500 in 2024, but this has been replaced with the all-electric 500, which is similar in size. The Citroen C1 and Peugeot 108 were dropped from sale in the last few years too. However, once we move deeper into the electric age, some city car models are starting to hit the market - such as the Dacia Spring and Hyundai Inster to name a few.