The Latin American colleagues of the Euro NCAP have put the Kia Picanto mini-hatchback through a series of tests and concluded that the car is abysmally bad at keeping its occupants alive during a crash.
It has to be pointed out that the South American version of the Picanto lacks even such basics as the ABS and ESC. It also comes with a lone airbag, as opposed to the six airbags of the EU spec.
The hatch was subjected to a head-on and lateral collision tests, as well as a simulated collision with a pedestrian. In the end, children’s safety was assessed at 29% and adults’ safety at zero percent. Safety aids scored 7%, and we dread to admit that the frankly dismal 51% of pedestrian safety actually kind of looks decent in comparison. On second thought, scratch that.
As a conclusion, Latin NCAP calls upon Kia to re-spec the local Picanto and warns customers strongly against buying the car until it gets better.
