Kia’s First Pickup: The New Kia Tasman

Kia, a South Korean automobile company, has been slowly infiltrating the list of the top automotive companies in the world by releasing one high-quality, reliable vehicle after another. They have become a company to watch and are frequently at the forefront of the mid-priced and affordable vehicle market. 

Release of the Kia Tasman

This year, they released an exciting snippet of information that they will be producing a mid-size pickup truck called the Tasman. It is named after the island Tasmania, located off the coast of Australia.

For those of you who do not know, the pickup truck has been the best-selling vehicle across America year after year, so adding a Kia pickup to the mix will be interesting and exciting for consumers who do not have a big budget to blow. 

Not available for purchase in America (yet)

While this release is good news, unfortunately for Kia’s American customers, this pickup truck will not be available for purchase in America at the moment. Kia will sell the Tasman in Korea, Africa, the Middle East, and Australia.  

Experts think that it will one day reach US shores as the company stated they will be deploying a phased worldwide launch strategy for this vehicle. To make this happen, Kia would first have to create more space in their manufacturing plant in Georgia so they could avoid the 25 percent import tariff on pickups manufactured outside the country.

At the moment, this manufacturing site produces several popular Kia vehicles, including the Telluride, Sportage SUV, and Sorento. Also, its newest electric vehicle, the EV9, has started production there. 

Kia’s Tasman Faces Uncertain Future in Europe Amid Strict Emission Regulations

Kia’s marketing director confirmed that Kia has no immediate plans to ship the Tasman to any European country, leaving the possibility of a European release unconfirmed. This decision by Kia is most likely due to the emission regulations in Europe, as they are more stringent than in other places in the world. 

But that doesn’t mean that they will not be producing commercial vehicles for Europe and America. At the Consumer Electronics Show this year, they confirmed that they are designing several electric vans, and they showcased plans for several of these vehicles, including PV1, PV5, and PV7. These will rival Ford’s election version of the super-seller, the Transit, and Volkwagen’s very successful ID electric range. 

While Kia is planning to release cargo vehicles in Europe, are they fully making a comeback? The marketing executive doesn’t think so as automotive consumers at the moment are interested in the SUV design as it looks excellent, contains an ample amount of space, and has useable features.

Unlike the SUV, people buy cargo vehicles because they need them, not want them for how they look or their features.

Image source: Kia

Kia Unveils Tasman Pickup with Vibrant Design by Artist Richard Boyd-Dunlop

Kia recently released an image of the Tasman pickup truck on their social media pages. Within these images, it showed a pickup in a garage which was adorned with an eye-catching and colorful design that was a collaboration with Artist Richard Boyd-Dunlop.

Automotive enthusiasts went wild for this exterior design, with opinions split between positive statements such as “its so cool and modern” and negative statements such as “its hideous” throughout the internet.

But to some consumers’ relief, this design is just a ruse to hide the exterior of the Tasman prototypes until the company is ready to release the final design of the pickup officially. 

Kia’s Tasman Pickup Sparks Anticipation: Final Prototype and Specs Awaited 

So, it may be a while before the Tasman hits the roads here or over the ocean in Europe, but that does not mean it will not be exciting to hear the details of this pickup truck when Kia finally releases the final prototype and specifications. If it is anything like their other vehicles, it will capture the public’s interest and become another hot seller.