√2025 Kia Tasman ute inches closer, here’s what we know so far

Development of the Kia Tasman ute is in full swing. Here are the latest timing estimates of when it will be unveiled and when it will be on sale.

The 2025 Kia Tasman ute will be unveiled next year ahead of local showroom arrivals in mid 2025 – pending any delays – senior executives for Kia Australia have told Drive.

While Kia’s first genuine rival to the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger continues to undergo development work in a heavy disguise – wearing cobbled-together bodywork from the Kia Mohave SUV to hide the new chassis so the vehicle can be tested in public – it is not due to be unveiled globally until some time next year.

Representatives for Kia have also told Drive although Australia is heavily involved in the development of the Kia Tasman – and is one of the primary markets for the vehicle – it is yet to be tested locally.

However, Kia Australia says it will do final validation testing and suspension tuning in advance of the vehicle going into production, to make sure it is suitable for local conditions – on-road and off-road.

For now the timeline for the rollout of the Kia Tasman looks something like this (pending any unforeseen delays):

Unveiled in 2024
Further testing on public roads with completed, production-ready vehicles
Start of production in South Korea in the first half of 2025
Showroom arrivals from mid 2025

Although the Kia Tasman name has been trademarked locally, the company says this is a placeholder and the showroom name is yet to be confirmed. However, Drive understands the Kia Tasman badge is a firm favourite among top executives.

Meantime, as previously reported, the first glimpse of the new Kia pick-up – which will also debut a new heavy-duty ladder-frame chassis for the company – appeared on South Korean social-media websites in November 2022.

Spy photos over the past six months or so have shown camouflaged prototypes wearing bodywork borrowed from the Kia Mohave SUV which is sold in South Korea.

It is understood these early test “mules” were built using existing parts to cover the underpinnings of the new model, and therefore we are yet to see any clues about the final design.

In late May of this year, Kia dealers were told Australia has been at the centre of the development of the Kia ute, and the project has been underway since 2020.

For now it remains unclear whether Hyundai will adopt a version of this vehicle – given the sister companies share many models but with different bodywork – or go in its own direction.

As previously reported by Drive, while Kia intends to tackle the heavy-duty diesel-powered double-cab ute market in Australia – one of the fastest-growing segments locally – Hyundai dealers in Australia were last year advised the company is exploring the possibility of the Santa Cruz light-duty “lifestyle” pick-up (pictured below).

According to information shared with dealers in a national conference earlier this year, the new Kia pick-up will have the same towing and carrying capacity as the top-selling utes locally. That means a maximum tow rating of up to 3500kg, and a maximum payload of close to 1000kg.

It is unclear which engines will power the new model, however dealers were told the vehicle will use diesel, not petrol propulsion.

This could mean the 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel in the current Kia Sorento and Hyundai Santa Fe family SUVs, or a version of the 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder turbo-diesel in the Genesis GV80 luxury SUV.

An electric version may follow, given Kia head office has previously confirmed it is developing two electric pick-ups, although they may be different sizes to the one Australia is getting.

MORE: Kia ute confirmed for Australia

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