• Here’s a first image of the future Kia Tasman pickup, which may or may not be coming to North America.
Kia hasn’t made a secret of it: the Korean automaker is working on its first pickup truck. Today it shared an official image of the Tasman, complete with colourful camouflage, to give us an idea of what it will look like.
The midsize Kia Tasman is intended initially for the Korean market, and then Australia, Africa and the Middle East. Nothing has been confirmed for North America, but early units have been seen in testing in California. That doesn't usually lie.
What’s more, Kia has already confirmed plans to launch an electric pickup on the US market in 2027. That version will be derived from the gasoline-powered truck that will enter the market first. Will North America get both? Remains to be seen.
The Tasman pickup, its name taken from the Australian island of Tasmania, is scheduled to debut in 2025.
Obviously, with a vehicle wearing this type of camo, it's hard to make out the details of the design, but it does give us a good view of it as a whole. We can see the shape of the cabin, for example, as well as the headlights, which seem to echo the signature adopted by the EV9 electric SUV. The shapes are very square, too.
The truck shown also wears off-road tires, suggesting the presence of a more adventurous variant in the range. We can easily imagine it for the Australian market; we'll see about ours.
As for details of the model's technical specifications or any kid of a price range, we'll have to be patient. A diesel engine is expected elsewhere, but we can forget about that for our market.
We do know, however, that the platform will be that of a truck, i.e. a chassis on a frame. Rumours point to a towing capacity of around 8,000 lb (GM and Ford are at 7,700 and 7,500, respectively, in this midsize pickup category), as well as a payload of around 2,200 lb.
A lot of information, then, but a lot of unknowns still surrounding what's in store for us with this first Kia pickup.