WITH THE FORD RANGER and Toyota HiLux topping the sales charts, executives at Ford and Toyota must be seriously concerned about the impending arrival of Kia’s new Tasman ute (as one reader pointed out, he hopes it will be more successful than its Leyland namesake from the early 70s).
According to sources at Kia, the new Tasman will be embraced by Aussie buyers who are expected to snap up one in three of the annual production of 65,000 built.
That means Kia is aimed at annual sales of 20,000, hardly surprising since much of its development occurred in and for Australia. Kia Australia head Damien Meredith makes no apologies that 30 percent of the ute’s development has been carried out by Roland Rivero (GM of Product Planning) and Graeme Gambold (ride, handling and engineering expert) in Australia.
The new Tasman will also be vital for Kia in South Africa and the Middle East.
The diesel dual-cab ute, powered by the familiar 2.2-litre unit used in the Sorento and Carnival, could be on sale in Australia by January 2025.