Small car buyers are no longer second-class citizens. The days are gone when you had to skulk around the garage, grateful for an audience with the most junior of sales staff before graciously accepting a tin-box powered by a hamster on a treadmill for your hard-earned cash, writes Michael McAleer, Motoring Editor
In an increasingly saturated car market, every firm is fighting for volume. Enter Kia - the "other" Korean brand, now controlled by larger Hyundai. Despite the cut-throat competition the Koreans have plans for world domination. For years now Hyundai has been oft-repeating its mantra - becoming a top-five car maker by 2010.
Many observers simply smiled condescendingly when they heard this - the cheek of these uppity Koreans. But they're starting to show a sudden knack of turning the game around.
Only a few years ago the only waiting list at Kia was for spare parts. Now however, according to JD Power, for the first time ever Korean-built vehicles outpace both European and US cars in initial quality.
Kia's Sorrento SUV is in huge demand thanks to relatively stylish looks and very keen pricing. The Sedona people carrier, though not exactly pretty, is nonetheless good value for all that roominess. And now the Picanto is set to take on the current crop of small city cars.
It's the toughest market around, where every cent must be justified and differences of a few hundred euro can sway customers. The magic number at present seems to be a starting price of €11,495 and Kia has met that price, matching the likes of Daihatsu's Charade and Daewoo's Matiz. The only one to beat it is the Fiat Panda, by €200 at entry level.
So what do you get for your money? Quite a lot actually. You get a car that's actually quite cute and features high on the "ah" scale. The short nose - it's less than a metre from the end of the windscreen to the number plate - and big grille give it a certain puppy-dog appeal.
Kia has also managed to make the cabin quite tall without ending up with one of those terrible shrunken buses that car firms are forcing on us at present. This has been achieved partly by styling the sidelines upwards towards the rear window.
The boot is also bigger than most of its competitors such as the Fiat. The back-seats fold down 60:40 to give up to 882 litres of space, and there's no awkward lip to overcome when loading. Our car came with a Tyremobilitykit - otherwise known as a bottle of sealant and a pump - so we had extra storage space and containers under the rear mat.
Sitting in the back, our test car was set up for four passengers, so it had only two seatbelts. While two adults could travel in the back, the seats were quite firm and upright, while storage is restricted to the cloth pockets on the front seats.
Overall there's enough legroom for anyone under six-foot, but three adults in the back would be as wildly ambitious as the interior designer who chose eye-scorching aqua-blue as the dominant colour for interior trim. Bright garish colours have been making their way into the small car market with abandon of late - all the fault of Smart which made tiny cars funky. Every small car these days must come with an option of yellow and green interior and metallic orange paint. Inevitably most will be sold with plain grey or black interior, but these colours add to the character of the cars.
Up front and the seats are surprisingly comfortable, with the driver seat offering plenty of lumbar support and none of the bench-like qualities of the back row. With adjustable seatbelt and steering column, it's easy to get comfortable and the leather steering wheel and gear knob in the 1.1-litre are actually nice to the touch, though they are a telltale sign of how close the two Korean marques are these days for they are straight out of the Hyundai range. In fact the entire dash is a replica of the one in the Getz, from the air vents to the dials and including the annoying indicator and wiper stalks that are on opposite sides to what we are used to in Europe, perhaps the most telling sign of the European-Asian divide.
And yet again there's one of those really annoying retro-fit radio systems - all flashing lights and chrome dials but enough fidgety buttons to drive you demented. This time it's a JVC system as opposed to Hyundai's Pioneer system, and the sound quality is impressive. It also features an MP3 player, something many modern family saloon cars don't have yet. The entire finish is sturdy and well built, though there are some areas that could be improved, such as the visible steering column in the pedal well.
On the open road the little engine trundles away without a problem; good sound-proofing keeps noise to a minimum. Perhaps fun is not a word in its vocabulary and the overall feel is rather numb, from handling to ride quality. But it copes adequately with our puckered roads and the power is weighted towards keeping a steady pace in traffic. Given its radically short overhang it's a joy to park, though the turning circle could be better given its diminutive size. Kia also claims to beat competitors with a combined fuel consumption figure of 57.6 mpg. Our final tally was, however, closer to between 35 and 40 mpg with a lot of motorway driving.
The advances in both safety, quality and in-car entertainment have made their way down to the smallest of cars. These days power steering, ABS, dual front airbags and a radio/CD are standard fare for those on the tightest of budgets. It's great news for the buyers, but we can't help wondering how long it can last. In an industry that seems increasingly overcrowded with models and brands, the cost savings in the production of small cars are no longer as great as they once were; savings on sheet metal are insignificant and the margins are tight. There's bound to be a blood-letting in the near future. In the meantime buyers should enjoy the good times.
As for Kia, the bosses at Hyundai plan to separate the two brands by making Kia the small, sporty and low-priced marque, while Hyundai goes on to be the larger family-orientated brand. To meet the goal for 2010, Kia's role is to more than double overseas sales. That's just about possible if the Japanese make the move upmarket, which most show signs of doing.
The Picanto might not match the Panda in terms of price, but it does carry a certain appeal. It's another worthy entrant in the market and may signal the welcome return from the brink of financial ruin in the 1997 Asian financial crisis of Korea's oldest car marker.