Kia's Tasman pickup hasn't been a smash hit since it arrived in Australia. In the year or so it's been on sale, the truck has been crushed on the sales charts by its rivals. That has led to massive discounts on the vehicle, but it has also left Kia scrambling to make changes – changes that will happen well before the planned mid-cycle facelift. Sales Goals Have Been Decimated Kia When Kia launched the new truck, it expected to sell around 20,000 per year in Australia. That was a very aggressive goal, which would have given it a nearly 10% share of the highly contested Ute market. Last month, Kia sold 320. Clearly, the company needs to make changes, and it is working to rush them to market. "We are not just looking at the short-term solutions right now. We are working on, right now, on the short-term and the mid-term solutions at the same time," Spencer Cho, Kia head of global business planning, told Australian media outlet Drive."We are still in the starting point and we still have a lot of time coming to us," Cho said. "So we will carefully monitor the market, the reactions, and the early disappointment we have in the Australian market that gave us a lot of the good lessons."Cho didn't spell out exactly what Kia planned to do to help sales, but he said the company is willing to do whatever it thinks will work. "As long as we have the clear market reactions to improve any certain areas, we will go all the way," he said.The truck's styling, which sets it apart from any other truck on the market, has been controversial to say the least. Kia couldn't do much to change the shape before the 2028 refresh, but it could change some of the details.Exterior plastic parts, like the bumper inserts and the fender flares, could be changed quickly and relatively easily. Small changes to textures and colors could make a big difference to the truck's looks. See the later Pontiac Aztek or Chevrolet Avalanche with painted cladding for two excellent examples of small moves having a large impact.Kia executives have said they want a hybrid in the lineup to deliver better fuel economy. That was before the hikes in fuel prices over the past months, so that desire is probably higher than ever. Cho said "all options are on the table" when it comes to powertrains. Kia Is Getting Its 'Countermeasures' Ready Kia "Kia Australia is getting a lot of the feedback from the media, the dealers, and also the actual customers, he said. "So we are collecting all those, the feedback from any way of means. We are preparing for the countermeasures, which we make the improvement of the competitiveness of the Tasman."Instead of a 9% share, the Tasman has managed just a 2.1% share. While Kia sold 320 last month, Ford sold 3,661 Ranger pickups and Toyota moved 2,835 Hilux trucks. To try and help move built-up inventory, Kia has added accessory packs, finance offers, and then big cash discounts.Drive reports that Kia has cut up to $14,000 (USD $10,000) from the price of a Tasman X-Pro. That brings it down to $64,990 (USD $46,000) after taxes and fees. That makes the starting price for the top trim of the truck a match for the most basic work-spec Ranger Ford offers in the country.It could be a long few years for the truck as Kia scrambles to make changes that will appeal to buyers for the refresh in 2028. It will be interesting to see what Kia does, and to see what direction it sends Hyundai as that company and Kia develop pickups for the equally competitive US market.
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