Kia Tasman revealed as brand's first ever pickup

Kia has revealed the Tasman - its first ever pickup truck. The Tasman is Kia’s answer to popular pickup trucks such as the Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok. The Tasman will initially launch in the Korean domestic market during the first half of 2025 before being introduced in markets such as Australia, Africa and the Middle East. 

1. Tasman gets 2.2-litre diesel, 2.5-litre turbo-petrol engine options
2. Offers single-cab, double-cab configurations

Kia Tasman: exterior, interior design

The Tasman features a boxy design with a squarish fascia, featuring five vertical slats in the grille, vertically stacked headlamps that are set slightly behind the nose, besides a muscular bumper. The wheel arches feature chunky plastic cladding, and the pickup truck sits on 17-inch gloss-black wheels with all-terrain tires, with optional 18-inchers.

At the rear, the Tasman gets C-shaped tail lamps with a large stamped logo and the Tasman badging under it in the middle. Based on a body-on-frame platform, the pickup truck measures 5,410mm in length, 1,930mm in width, stands 1,920mm tall, and has a 3,270mm long wheelbase - which is 265mm longer than the Hyundai Santa Cruz. Kia is offering the Tasman with four different bed configurations, namely Single Decker, Double Decker, Sports Bar and Ladder Rack. 

The Kia Tasman is offered in three trims - base, X-Line and X-Pro. It gets a panoramic widescreen setup consisting of a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, a 12.3-inch touchscreen, and a 5-inch display for the HVAC controls in the middle of the two larger screens. Other features include standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a large folding console table, dual wireless charging pads and hidden storage bins concealed beneath the rear seats. Moreover, the rear backrest can be reclined at 22 and 30 degrees. The pickup truck gets ADAS Level 2 tech such as lane keeping assist, blind spot collision warning, remote parking assist and more. 

Kia Tasman: powertrains, off-road hardware

For the Australian market, the Tasman gets a 210hp, 441Nm, 2.2-litre diesel engine paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission. In other regions, there will be a choice between a 281hp, 421Nm, 2.5-litre turbo-petrol engine equipped with and the 2.2-litre diesel engine with a choice of an eight-speed automatic or six-speed manual transmission. The petrol engine helps the Tasman dash from 0-100kph in 8.5 seconds with a 185kph top speed. 

The Tasman gets a double wishbone front suspension, coupled to the rigid axle with leaf springs at the rear with vertically mounted shock absorbers. It also offers Sensitive Damper Control (SDC) and Hydraulic Rebound Stop to improve body control and minimise vibrations transmitted to the cabin.

The air intake has been positioned inside the fender, helping it achieve an 800mm water fording capability. All-wheel drive is optional on the base model and standard on the X-Line and X-Pro trims. The Kia Tasman offers four terrain modes, namely, Desert, Mud, Snow and Rock. There’s also an automatically engaging rear electronic locking differential, along with an X-Trek mode that enables the vehicle to maintain a low speed off-road without the need for manual acceleration or braking.

The Kia Tasman’s load bed is 1,512 mm long, 1,572 mm wide and 540 mm deep. It can carry a maximum payload of 1,195kg in 2WD mode, in addition to a 3,500kg towing capacity.

Given the low popularity of pickup trucks in India, the Kia Tasman is not expected to be launched here anytime soon. For reference, the Tasman would have rivalled the Toyota Hilux and Isuzu V-Cross in our country.