Kia Tasman 2025: all you need to know about Korea's new pickup

Australia’s extremely aggressive ute market is soon to receive a impress fresh entrant within the originate of the Kia Tasman, the most distinguished automotive of its form from the Korean automaker.

While yet to be formally unveiled, nor formally named, crucial points for the ute – broadly anticipated to be called the Tasman – are starting up to emerge as its 2025 open nears, collectively with present request pics.

Spot to head head to head with Australia’s three most neatly-appreciated autos, the Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux and Isuzu D-Max pickups, Kia – Australia’s number four automotive impress in 2023 – would possibly perchance perchance per chance bear high hopes for the automotive as it joins the profitable segment.

As we ride closer to the arrival of the all-fresh Tasman make definite you bookmark this article as we’ll present rolling coverage as it occurs, lawful right here in one space – and make certain to moreover sustain an request on our fresh automotive calendar for every fresh automotive launching in 2024.

January 2024 – most fashionable request photos published

The indispensable photos bear emerged of what appears to be like to be a shut to production-appealing Kia Tasman in camouflaged originate.

A video printed to South Korean YouTube channel Woopa TV and extra photos printed to New Autopost give us our simplest observe yet at a daring and chunky create with commanding aspect road presence.

The automotive pictured has a distinguished, correct physique featuring a subtle grille, vertical headlights and tail lamps, apparently according to Kia’s present create language.

Dusky roof rails and a few relatively pronounced gloomy panelling atop of the wheel arches moreover characteristic, as neatly as an integrated step within the rear bumper for less complicated tray entry.

While the inner is mainly camouflaged just like the exterior, we enact salvage a transparent request of definite parts just like the centre console which retains a extinct instruments lever as neatly as a two- and 4-wheel power mode selector.

The Woopa TV video moreover points to condo within the center of the chassis as seemingly being in a dilemma to accommodate a battery pack for future electric variants too.

August 2023 – fresh render and electric hypothesis

New renders courtesy of Sustvin disguise how a production version of the fresh Tasman would possibly perchance perchance per chance observe, sporting comparable exterior styling to the Kia EV5 and EV9 electric SUVs, and handing over a menacing aspect road presence.

Pondering the fresh ute is at probability of hit the market spherical 2025, is it seemingly that this would possibly perchance perchance per chance be a pure electric offering?

While right here’s with no doubt seemingly, earlier reports by Chasing Cars indicated that the Kia ute will be on the origin launched with a turbo-diesel engine to aid make it aggressive in opposition to the likes of Hilux and Ranger.

Nonetheless, speaking on the electric front, it’d be now now not in point of fact that the fresh Kia ute would possibly perchance perchance per chance be developed lawful with turbo-diesel energy in tips.

If the exhausting work has been accomplished to create a ground-up physique-on-physique platform, Kia is awfully at probability of want to ‘future-proof’ the ute to moreover cater for electric motors and battery packs within the identical platform.

June 2023 – well-known market part anticipated

Kia has high hopes for its fresh pickup and objectives to bear well-known market part within the Australian pickup industry.

Kia Australia’s chief govt officer, Damien Meredith, said that the logo predicts that the Kia pickup is ready to taking pictures a indispensable a part of the profitable local ute segment.

“We have faith in we can aloof enact 10 p.c (of the ute market part in Australia)”.

That implies that Kia is aiming to sell spherical 20,000 utes per 365 days – with no doubt a distinguished job forward.

If Kia is planning to sell spherical 20,000 pickups a 365 days in Australia, that would possibly perchance perchance per chance save it according to the likes of the Isuzu D-Max and Mitsubishi Triton, which both sold spherical 20,000 4×4 variant units during 2022.*

*Sales figures had been present as of June 2023

June 2023 – what else will we know?

Australia would possibly perchance perchance per chance bear a lot of input into building

Love among the most distinguished ute avid gamers available within the market, Kia Australia has confirmed to local media that its pickup would possibly perchance perchance per chance bear well-known input from the local create team.

When requested about how great input Australia would possibly perchance perchance per chance bear, Meredith spoke back, “As great as seemingly. Many of establishing to suit our market. Australia’s feature is being viewed as a truly crucial one”.

Kia Australia’s neatly-liked supervisor of product planning, Roland Rivera, outlined that Kia’s pickup has and remains to be developed partly within the neighborhood.

A team headed by company’s chief engineer of ride and handling, Graeme Gambold, has been exhausting at work establishing the chassis in a lot of tough Australian stipulations.

Right here’s very seemingly this capability that of the reality that Australia will be thought to be one of, if now now not the ultimate markets for the Kia ute when it launches. Other core markets will encompass worldwide locations much like South Africa, South The United States and Thailand, but Australia will be no 1.

Ranger and Amarok key benchmarks for Kia pickup

Kia Australia has openly said that other utes such because the Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok had been the most distinguished “benchmark” for establishing the Kia pickup.

“It became once crucial that [Kia’s development team] understood what the most distinguished benchmarks had been,” Meredith said.

At the clicking convention with Australian media, Kia advised Chasing Cars that it had been planning a pickup accomplishing for relatively some time. And that via key market benchmarks, the target has been a transferring one.

“Within the closing couple of years after we started the conversation (about establishing the pickup), there wasn’t an all-fresh Ranger”.

Both the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger nameplates remain the most distinguished benchmarks in subtle part this capability that of sheer recognition – they’ve long been the tip two simplest-selling utility autos on Australian soil.

Nonetheless, Kia Australia has moreover name-checked the Volkswagen Amarok, now technically twinned with Ranger in its now now not too long within the past released 2nd era, as something of a quality and integrity benchmark.

Pickup will ride on admire platform, SUV version a probability

In inequity to the Thai origins of many of recently’s fashionable pickup and ute ranges, Kia’s fresh pickup will be built in Korea.

It has moreover been confirmed by Kia Australia that the fresh pickup is now now not going to ride on an existing platform, that means that Kia would bear the biggest to create its admire ladder chassis platform for the pickup.

This implies that the Kia pickup is seemingly now now not SUV-based mostly entirely mostly, like Hyundai’s North American Santa Cruz ute, for instance, which utilises a unibody chassis and is according to the Tucson.

Even though unconfirmed, an SUV version of the Kia pickup would possibly perchance perchance per chance happen – great like how the Ford Everest exists alongside the Ranger – on the opposite hand Kia Australia didn’t verify this at such an early stage.

Kia won’t lawful offer 4×4 twin cabs, complete vary anticipated

Apparently Kia will work to raise a fleshy lineup of pickup utes to market in Australia, and now now not lawful high-spec 4×4 twin-cabs.

“We had been very adamant that we desired to position the entirety of the segment, the entirety of the category, and strategically target the total indispensable parts of it,” Meredith said on the tournament.

This implies that the future Kia lineup would possibly perchance perchance per chance encompass tradie-spec 4×2 work utes lawful up to flagship 4×4 twin-cab utes for work and play.

Pricing hasn’t been confirmed lawful yet, on the opposite hand it wouldn’t be defective to estimate that Kia’s pricing is aggressive in opposition to the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger.

It’s seemingly that Kia would possibly perchance perchance per chance moreover offer a high-dwell efficiency-oriented variant to rob on the likes of Ranger Raptor.