Kia Picanto facelifted in Korea

The Kia Picanto has been freshened up for the Korean market, providing a preview of the potential updates expected for the city-car in Australia in coming months.

Externally, the facelifted Kia Morning (as it's known in Korea) include an updated chrome-striped 'tiger-nose' grille, a pair of new LED headlights and a sportier front bumper that positions its chrome-rimmed fog lights within the lower air intake.

At the rear, there's a pair of new 3D LED tail-lights, a tweaked rear bumper that features a cheeky take on a rear diffuser, plus twin fake exhaust outlets.

Finally, there's a new set of 16-inch rims, chrome finishing trim around the windows and the option of the new 'Honeybee' yellow hue.

Inside, the mid-cycle refresh includes an 8.0-inch infotainment screen that features standard navigation, plus an updated 4.2-inch information display within the instrument panel.

Thanks to the updates the infotainment system can connect two devices via Bluetooth and the system now also works with voice recognition.

New big-car driver assistance tech also becomes standard, with the Korean Picanto getting blind-spot collision-avoidance assist, rear- and side-collision warning, as well as lane-keep assist and driver attention warning.

There's no word if the model update brings any changes under the bonnet of the Picsnto, which first arrived in Australia in 2017.

The updated third-generation Picanto is expected to arrive Down Under before the end of this year, but our version will be more closely aligned with the European model.