Kia Picanto (Morning) seen testing in Chennai again

If you have been a regular reader of our blog, you would be knowing the fact that Anything On Wheels stood on the podium in bringing out images of the Kia Picanto doing its test runs in India. Back then, the snap of the Kia Picanto that you see in this post was the closest and clearest shot of the car brought by any automotive media and the interest and response that it generated was incredible. It could well be that Hyundai was caught off-guard on seeing the huge response to the Picanto and thought it wise to camouflage the car unlike the initial days when it roamed around freely with just the logo and badges masked.  Almost everybody was of the opinion that the Kia Picanto looked much better than its sibling Hyundai i10 that is available on sale in India.

Now that Hyundai has categorically denied the entry of Kia in India atleast for the next few years, the only thing they could be doing with this car in India is to test the underpinnings of the next generation i10 that is due for launch in 2013. Who knows, this green Picanto could even be testing the 1.1L CRDi engine that is expected in the next i10. We can't deny that possibility, can we? Just like Volkswagen and Skoda do, Hyundai and Kia share platforms and power-train with each brand bringing out their exclusivity in the form of exterior and interior design. As such, the Kia Picanto and Hyundai i10 are basically the same car underneath with only the external shell matching the design theme of the respective brands.

With the current i10's sales coming down month on month owing to its age and the absence of diesel variant, Hyundai knows that it has to get it absolutely spot on with the next generation model to regain the leadership in the hatchback segment. And the secret weapon that Hyundai is using to accomplish this task at the moment is the Picanto.

We still have a piece of advice for Hyundai though. With the kind of fan-base that the Picanto has generated, Hyundai should definitely consider launching this car in India. It could be a massive success and we just don't see any problem for the Picanto peacefully co-existing with Santros, i10s and i20s of this world. Are they listening?