Kia's other ute could miss the boat to Australia

The Kia Tasman won’t be the Korean brand’s only ute, but it may well be the only one it offers here.

Kia confirmed globally in 2022 it was working on two utes: “a dedicated electric pickup truck and a strategic model for emerging markets”, the latter of which was understood to be an electric Tasman derivative.

The so-called “dedicated” electric pickup, in contrast, was earmarked for production in the US in 2024, something that hasn’t eventuated as demand for some electric pickups there – like Ford’s F-150 Lightning – has fallen off.

Impeding this model’s chances for Australia is the lack of right-hand drive production at Kia’s West Point, Georgia plant in the US.

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“[The Tasman] is sourced out of the Hwaseong factory and logistically for many reasons, and the long history, sourcing out of the Korean factory has been very good for us,” Kia Australia product planning general manager Roland Rivero told CarExpert.

“It’s not always easy to ask the Georgia factory to build a product in right-hand drive.

“If we use Telluride as an example. Telluride, for their own market, they need to satisfy the demands of the North American market – including Canada – first and foremost. I wouldn’t say never, but it’s difficult to ask the Georgia factory for right-hand drive.

“For now, in a pickup form, the Tasman is it for Australia.”

Mr Rivero also warned the market isn’t currently favourable for electric utes.

“If you look at the current EV sales, if I give the F-150 [Lightning] as an example, I think there’s a few sitting around in North America,” he said.

“So a big pickup EV globally at this point in time, there’s a little bit of a question mark on its commercial viability right now, right at this very moment.

“There’s still infrastructure challenges, government policies that are going to change that are going to be in favour but not all of them have kicked in yet. We’re not in the middle part of 2025 just yet, and how that outlook’s going to look, it’s still a little bit hazy, it’s a bit opaque.

“So I think our strategy in contrast is pretty clear. We’ve got a good range of product that we can use to leverage and aim to break even, so that we don’t need to enforce for example immediate changes to the ICE product,” he added, referring to stricter Australian Government emissions standards coming into effect next year.

Kia’s 2022 global announcement had indicated the “strategic” electric ute would be one of 14 EVs it would offer by 2027.

Mr Rivero wouldn’t be drawn, however, as to what other powertrains the Tasman will be offered with besides the standard turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine.

When asked whether there’s potential for mild-hybrid, hybrid, PHEV and electric versions of the Tasman, Mr Rivero said, “Absolutely, there’s no sacred cows”.

“We’ll look at over the course of its product life cycle, what we need to do to continue to maintain that sales plan of 20,000 or 10 per cent of the market.”

An electric Tasman would give Kia a rival to the upcoming LDV eTerron 9, while other brands like Ford have indicated globally they’re working on electric utes of their own to compete in this segment.

Step up to the segment above and there’s a bevy of electric options from American brands… none of which are offered here. This includes the aforementioned F-150 Lightning, as well as the Tesla Cybertruck and a total of three separate pickups from General Motors alone.