Indian Autos Blog was told by a source that the Kia Picanto was brought to India to test out powertrain components. The LHD Picanto, that's a Hyundai i10 underneath, has been on test since November 2011. HMIL has not commented on the spottings of the car.
We can't call up Kia India to know what's going on as there's no such company. Recently our reader spotted yet another example, wearing a different color on the highways of Chennai.
These photographs were shared with us by our good friend and big fan Aditya Narayan. Aditya said the vehicle was parked on the side of the road and every badge, logo, quality certification giving its identity away was hidden away. Hyundai-Kia have dressed up the front and rear fascias with camouflage and prepared the little car for a war against prying eyes by drawing earth worms on the body.
The zipped-up camouflage is not hiding updates to the body work. It is to keep the car's identity a secret. Not quite sure if that's worked.
This is not the first time we're showing the Kia Picanto to readers. Every previous occasion the car's been spied, the spotter has immediately made references to the i10 and said he prefers this over the Hyundai.
The Picanto is sold as the Kia Morning in Korea. It uses the i10's engine lineup and is also offered with a LPG tank.
Kia must be reading these comments and thinking India isn't such a bad place to sell its cars.
