Kia is introducing a three-door Picanto to the range for the first time since the supermini went on sale in 2004.

Consumer demand has driven the company to release the latest incarnation of the Picanto without the rear doors, for buyers who want a city car focused more on style than on practicality.

Globally, the three-door Picanto will allow Kia to cater for around a million buyers who, by 2015, will be choosing a small, three-door car.

In this country it will be especially important for Kia, since UK statistics say that 45% of new small cars like the Picanto are purchased with three doors rather than five, and until now Kia has had nothing to offer those buyers.

The three-door model will come with a choice of four trim levels, two engine options and, with the larger engine, an optional automatic gearbox making a total of five model choices.

The most basic combination is a 68bhp 1.0-litre petrol engine with the entry level trim level; 1. After 1 comes 1 Air, which is the same apart from the addition of air conditioning.

Then two new higher-spec versions called Halo and Equinox offer more luxury and equipment, while a 1.25-litre 84bhp petrol engine powers them. The smaller engine averages 67.3mpg and the larger one is almost as frugal, at 65.7mpg if purchased in Halo trim with Kia's EcoDynamics package to cut CO2 and reduce fuel consumption. Without it, as an Equinox model, it still tops 60mpg