Kia’s Tasman Pickup is Big Gamble, How Will It Measure Up Against Rivals?

by Carl Malek | July 16, 2024

Kia’s Tasman pickup is a big gamble for the Korean car company but what is the company planning to do to help the Tasman stand out against rivals like the Ford Ranger, Toyota Tacoma, and Chevrolet Colorado while also building customer loyalty at the same time?

Kia is preparing to double down on its pickup truck ambitions with the Tasman

Kia made waves recently when the company confirmed that it was entering the pickup truck market with the all-new Tasman. The Tasman promises to be a potential disruptor against segment benchmarks but what is Kia doing to ensure that all goes to plan and that the Tasman can go toe to toe with leaders like the Toyota Tacoma and the Chevrolet Colorado?

Tasman is Kia’s toughest pickup test yet

Unlike the Bongo kei truck, the Tasman is entering uncharted territory when it comes to capability and performance.

Kia is facing an uphill battle when it comes to launching the Tasman with the company facing a key test in trying to establish itself in the mid-size pickup segment. While it’s easy to assume that the Tasman will be Kia’s first-ever pickup model, this is not the case. Instead, that honor goes to the Kia Bongo a little truck in the kei segment that has been around since 1980 with the latest version being on sale since 2005.

That said, the Tasman is a far different breed of pickup and unlike the Bongo, it’s expected to play a stronger role in Kia’s long-term sales picture. Kia says the truck’s styling is rugged and tough and some of its teaser images appear to support this with the truck featuring a large crew cab and a small bed that can presumably haul good amounts of cargo. This arrangement shows that Kia is wisely focusing on putting passenger comfort at the top of its priority list with the crew cab appealing to a growing number of family buyers that use mid-size pickups as family vehicles when they are not hauling cargo. The rest of the design has squared-off accents and it appears Kia designers used select elements of the EV9’s styling to craft the Tasman.

Kia’s new documentary shows Tasman’s wild side

Kia will be releasing a mini-video series highlighting various aspects of the Tasman’s development.

In addition to hauling cargo, the Tasman is also promising to be a potent rig out on the trail. Kia recently released a new teaser video called “One More Round” which documents the extreme testing that the truck has endured. This includes hot weather testing in the Australian outback and the company even revealed that the Tasman has had over 18,000 hours of development testing so far and Kia is leaving no stone unturned when it comes to pushing the Tasman to its full potential.

Unlike the pint-sized Bongo, the Tasman will have greater responsibilities with the teaser video showing that the rugged truck can easily tackle challenging obstacles and terrain which would put the Kia on roughly the same level as TRD Off-Road versions of the Tacoma though it remains to be seen if the Tasman can hang with TRD Pro models as well as the Colorado ZR2. Kia execs have said in the past that the Tasman would most likely be powered by four-cylinder engines with no plans for bigger engines. If the Tasman does come to the U.S. look for Kia to perhaps maintain this stance since the smaller four-cylinders would help the Tasman get better fuel economy while also following the Tacoma’s lead in ditching bigger V6 engines. The smaller engines will also help reduce pricing for the truck since bigger engines tend to bump up the price of a truck when they are equipped.

When will we see the Tasman?

The Tasman has been confirmed for international markets but it remains to be seen if the U.S. will be included in its sales plans.

Kia is not ready to talk about key details of the Tasman just yet, but the company confirmed its YouTube docuseries will have more episodes that will be released between now and October. This timeframe suggests the Tasman will make its debut in the fall and we look forward to hearing more information about some of the surprises that the Tasman has lurking underneath its rugged exterior and whether it will all be enough for it to stand out against rivals in the hotly contested mid-size pickup segment.