THE Kia Picanto and Niro models have notched up sales milestones with the supermini reaching a total of a quarter of a million sales in the UK and the Niro passing the 100,000 mark.

The Picanto has been on sale in Britain for the past 19 years while the Niro was first launched in the UK in 2016.

The Picanto, Kia's current smallest model, has been a favourite in the UK and is the lowest priced brand-new car on sale, starting at £13,665.

The first generation of the Kia Picanto went on sale in the UK on May 25 2004, the 60thanniversary of the founding of the South Korean auto manufacturer.

In 2007, the Picanto underwent a minor facelift that saw it receive new front and rear light clusters, a new bumper and a new front grille.

The first-generation Picanto was retired from duty in 2011 and achieved a total of 83,935 UK sales and its Mk 2 replacement would go on to sell 82,407 units in the UK.

The third generation model arrived in 2017 and was refreshed in 2020.

Since the start of 2023, the Picanto has consistently been one of the top performing models in the small car segment, popular with retail and fleet customers alike and year-to-date, it is the second-best selling model in its segment overall - and the best-selling in the retail market.

The 250,000thexample of the car sold in the UK was a Picanto ‘2' in Silver Frost, with a 1.0-litre, three-cylinder engine and five-speed automated-manual transmission.

Meanwhile, the Kia Niro has clocked up its sales achievement as a petrol-powered hybrid, a plug-in hybrid and a fully electric vehicle - a powertrain choice which remains for the second generation model launched in 2022.

Kia has also announced that the Rio model will be withdrawn from the UK market after production of the Fiesta rival ended in May.

Over 22 years, the Rio has been a hugely successful model line for the Korean brand in the UK, with four generations of the car on-sale throughout its lifetime in which time it has accounted for more than 150,000 cumulative UK sales.

It was joined in 2017 by its sister model, the Kia Stonic, which remains on-sale in the UK as a popular small crossover and the Korean car maker is now gearing up for the launch of a new Picanto in 2024.

More information about UK specification and pricing for the updated Picanto are still to be revealed.