Kia unveils first photos of Tasman pickup scheduled for release in 2025.

Posted on April 23, 2024
General
Kia unveils first photos of Tasman pickup scheduled for release in 2025.

Kia is preparing to launch its first light commercial vehicle, a midsize pickup truck called the Tasman.

Scheduled to go on sale in 2025, Kia released the first photos this week. The photos show the truck wrapped with artwork by Richard Boyd Dunlop. The Australian artist appears in the video below, explaining the inspiration behind the wrapping.

An even more heavily camouflaged prototype has been spotted testing the truck, including on U.S. roads. It is not clear, however, if the Tasman will be sold here. Kia has confirmed that it will launch an electric truck in the U.S. before 2027.

The only powertrain, at least at launch, is expected to be the 2.2-liter turbo diesel currently found in some Kia models sold overseas. This four-cylinder engine has about 200 horsepower. The Tasman will offer a choice of automatic or manual transmission. An electric powertrain is expected to be introduced eventually.

Markets confirmed by Kia to receive the Tasman include Australia, South Korea, and several African and West Asian countries.

The Tasman features a standard crew cab body and a boxy design that fits well with Kia's Telluride and EV9 midsize SUVs. The truck introduces a new Kia-branded grille design featuring five vertical bars. On either side of the grille are vertical headlights similar to those on the Telluride. Flared wheel arches and all-terrain tires also suggest some off-road capability.

The platform is expected to be a body-on-frame design, perhaps related to that of the latest Mojave SUV sold overseas; the six-lug wheels also suggest more ruggedness and off-road capability than typical Kia. Rumors suggest a payload capacity of about 2,200 pounds and a maximum towing capacity approaching 8,000 pounds, both comparable to competitors.

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