The all-new Kia Picanto went on sale in the UK in mid-June and the ultra-compact “city car” is bound to appeal to people of all ages, not least because of the company’s radical 7-year warranty program. How much roughly, though, can potential future owners expect to pay in car insurance?

First up, here are a few details about the car itself. The Picanto is a 5-door, 5-seat hatchback and prices range from just under £8,000 ($12,800) for the most basic model right up to little over £11,000 ($17,600) for the Picanto “3″, which has a 1.25L engine. With low fuel consumption and CO2 emission, it’s easy on the pocket at the pump and on the environment.

Let’s start by trying to insure one of the cheaper models, the Picanto “1 AIR”, which has a 1.0L engine. The cheapest comprehensive cover we found after inserting all the relevant details into moneysupermarket.com, the leading price comparison website, came out at £639 ($1,023) with a company called Admiral.

This policy was based on a 28-year-old male driver that does 10,000 miles annually, has been driving for five years with the same amount of no claims discount and who plans to park the car in a safe spot at all times of the day and night. In comparison, the most expensive cover was £926 ($1,481) with Likewise.

Cover for the Picanto “3″ came out cheapest at £541 ($865) with Esure after inserting exactly the same details, which included a deductible of £250 ($399). At the other end of the scale, the eCar quote came out the most expensive at an eye-watering £2,052 ($3,282) a year, such is the difference between many car insurance groups.

The launch of the Picanto came two weeks before Kia celebrated 20 years in the UK marketplace at the end of June 2011.

On reaching the milestone, Michael Cole, MD of Kia Motors (UK) Limited, commented: “Kia has been on quite a phenomenal journey in recent years. In less than two decades we’ve certainly lived up to our ‘Power to Surprise’ slogan by growing from a relatively small importer to challenging the best and most established brands in the industry.

“We think we have a fantastic range of cars and, judging by our growth over the last few years, it seems our customers think so too! 2011 is set to be our busiest year yet and I’m confident it’ll be one where we challenge perceptions more than ever as we launch three superb new products in the UK – new Picanto, new Rio and, later in the year, new Kia Optima.”