The X-Line 4×4 and SX+ 4×4 both received five-figure price cuts. Flagship Tasman X-Pro 4WD now starts at AU$65K, down from AU$78K. Ford has also cut prices for its plug-in hybrid Ranger to compete with BYD. Two of the most important mid-size pickups in Australia just got significantly cheaper, and one of them desperately needed the help. Kia has taken the knife to the Tasman lineup, while Ford has done the same to its plug-in hybrid Ranger. Whether either move will move the needle is the open question. Kia originally pitched the Tasman as a 20,000-unit-a-year proposition in Australia, or roughly 1,600 sales a month. The reality has been brutal. Steep pricing and divisive styling have kept it parked in showrooms, with just 1,600 finding buyers across the first four months of the year, or a full month’s worth of the original target stretched across a third of the year. Read: New Kia Tasman X-Pro Is Great, But Its Biggest Flaw Is Hard To Miss The Ford Ranger, by way of comparison, has moved roughly ten times that figure. To rewrite the math, Kia has cut AU$13,000 ($9,300) from the flagship X-Pro 4WD, dropping it to AU$64,990 ($46,400). The rest of the Tasman lineup gets a haircut too. The X-Line 4×4, which sits just under the X-Pro, drops AU$11,000 ($7,800) to AU$59,990 ($42,900). The SX+ 4×4 falls AU$11,500 ($8,200) to AU$54,990 ($39,300). And the entry SX 4×4 loses AU$6,500 ($4,600), settling at AU$51,990 ($37,100). Across the board, the Tasman is now thousands cheaper than it was at launch, which is what happens when a product misses its target by an order of magnitude Kia Australia boss Damien Meredith has acknowledged the Tasman hasn’t lived up to expectations and that more needs to be done to boost sales. “I think you know the exterior of the car is very polarising. Some people love it, some people don’t. And that’s had an effect,” he told Cars Guide. “I think you’ve got to be upfront and honest that the competition that’s out there is quite dramatic. We’ve fallen short. We know the facts. The fact of the matter is, we’ve got to make Tasman a better success in Australia than it is at its current level.” Ford Joins The Price-Cutting Party Ford Ranger PHEV The price of another expensive mid-size pickup has also been slashed, namely the Ford Ranger PHEV. Launched to rival the BYD Shark 6, the plug-in Ranger was originally priced from AU$71,990 ($51,400) before on-road costs, but has now been slashed to AU$59,000 ($42,100), including on-road costs, representing a saving of around AU$15,000 ($10,700). This also allows it to better match the Shark 6 Premium, available from AU$57,900 ($41,300), or around AU$61,605 ($44,000) when factoring in on-road costs and fees. Admittedly, the Ranger PHEV does not match the Shark 6 in performance, with a peak of 278 hp (207 kW) and 514 lb-ft (697 Nm) compared to BYD’s 430 hp (321 kW) and 479 lb-ft (650 Nm). Working in Ford’s favor is that it can tow up to 7,716 lbs (3,500 kg), whereas the regular Shark 6 is capped at 5,511 lbs (2,500 kg).
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