Kia has finally announced an Australian on-sale date range for its highly-anticipated pick-up, to take on the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux, Isuzu D-Max, Nissan Navara and Mitsubishi Triton.
But while that “24 to 36 months” timing period that puts the so-called Tasman ute in the mid-2025 to mid-2026 timeframe is great news for future buyers in this country, it also raises a few issues for Kia.
Namely, that the timing is terrible for one of the rising superstars of the Australian motoring industry.
The problem is that, right now, the only true benchmarks that the Tasman has is the Ford Ranger (and by association, its Volkswagen Amarok offshoot).
And, of course, these pair of dual-cab utes are at the top of their game right now, with world-class engineering ensuring segment-leading steering, ride, handling, comfort, refinement and interior space amongst the current mid-sized pick-up set.
But there-in lies the rub, because from late this year, an entire new-generation of utes will start to pour in, starting with the next-gen Mitsubishi Triton. It will be closely followed by the Nissan Navara and well-overdue Toyota HiLux redesign.
The issue here is that all these vehicles and the others we don’t even know about yet are shaping up to be newer and more advanced than even the T6.2-based Ranger/Amarok fraternal twins.
We hear that electrification in the shape of petrol-hybrid and eventually even a full-electric vehicle (EV) will be introduced over time, in utes that will hopefully boast the latest design, interior packaging, multimedia, safety and refinement systems.
But the Kia ute’s timing means that it may not benefit from these learnings to the full extent because it may not have the time to use any or all of these new-gen dual-cab pick-ups as benchmarks.
In contrast, the Ranger’s timing of launching last year was a massive stroke of luck for Ford, since there was – and remains until 2024 at least – clear blue sky for it to be king of the hill, so to speak.
Though pioneers in active driver-assist safety tech back when released at the beginning of this decade, not even the comparatively recent latest-gen Isuzu D-Max and its Mazda BT-50 version can quite match the Ranger/Amarok in terms of dynamics, packaging and driver enjoyment.
Of course, there is no guarantee that even the mighty HiLux will follow the Ford’s lead by being a leader in refinement, handling, ride and comfort, since the earlier, 2011-2021 T6 Ranger remained unbeaten in its ute segment even when it was amongst the oldest of its type.
Furthermore, Kia seems pretty hellbent on delivering Australians the best-possible ute it can.
During a press conference in Sydney this week, Kia Motors Australia (KMAu) recently-appointed Chief Executive Officer, Damien Meredith, emphasised Australia’s influence and requirements for the Tasman, adding that it is already undergoing extensive testing in this country.
“It’s been a bit of a moving target in regard to specification and design and pricing,” Meredith admitted. “We think we’re getting closer and we’re pretty happy about that.”
KMAu product planning boss, Roland Rivero, underlined the Tasman’s Australianisation program, adding that his team is super-focused on getting it right.
“A substantially amount of input (in terms of design and engineering), where a lot of work has already begun and been done, to – as much as possible – influence the development to suit our market,” he revealed.
“We are adamant that we need to look at the entirety of the category and strategically target all the major parts of it.”
Stay tuned, because more information on the Kia Tasman will drop shortly.
Keyword: Now we know: Kia Tasman ute launch dates announced - but is it lousy timing?