- Kia says Tasman pickup revealed in Oct. is not for U.S. market
- Model hasn’t selected a U.S.-bound Kia electrical pickup
- Push towards extra hybrids and PHEVs could present the path in a truck
Kia continues to be contemplating a pickup for the U.S., however whether or not that quantities to a gasoline-fueled truck or an EV stays to be decided, in response to two prime U.S. executives for the model on the Los Angeles auto present final week.
In both case, that pickup gained’t be the Tasman, which was revealed in October and is meant initially for Australia, Africa, and the Center East.
The Tasman, an old-style body-on-frame gasoline midsize pickup with a reside rear axle and an obtainable diesel engine, has a elegant cabin look however in any other case matches the mould of a workhorse.
“Tasman just isn’t for this market,” Kia chief working officer and government VP Steven Middle mentioned on Thursday to Inexperienced Automotive Stories in an interview on the present. However that doesn’t imply there may be a distinct gasoline truck that’s a risk, the manager defined.
2025 Kia EV9
In the meantime, the Kia electrical pickup beforehand confirmed as below growth, and sharing a few of its underpinnings with the EV9, isn’t a shoo-in for America both.
“We nonetheless haven’t determined we’re bringing it,” prime Kia America advertising and marketing government Russell Wager mentioned in a separate LA present interview, including that the electrical truck stays “a risk.”
The hesitation could have one thing to do with how such a truck could be positioned. In 2022, when the model first confirmed the Kia electrical pickup mission globally, Wager informed Inexperienced Automotive Stories that to ensure that it to make sense for North America such a mannequin would have to be positioned as an upscale electrical truck, not a high-value mannequin with a low worth.
Kia EV teaser
Think about what’s more and more trying like a market saturation of high-price totally electrical pickup entries, and it might be simple to see why Kia’s cautious on this space. The high-end electrical truck market has grown and contains fashions from Ford, Chevrolet, GMC, Rivian, and Tesla—with upscale electrical vans from Ram and VW’s Scout model additionally on the way in which.
Additional clouding the image was a chunk of reports from the South Korean enterprise publication Pulse that broke final week across the time of our LA auto present interview: Hyundai Motor Group and Normal Motors are reportedly pursuing the joint growth of an reasonably priced pickup truck for Latin America, and maybe past. Beneath the memorandum of understanding that is constructed on, GM and Hyundai are additionally collaborating on EV and hydrogen tech, and sourcing, nevertheless it’s unclear whether or not the items may match collectively.
The reply, for Kia and a U.S-bound pickup, could lie someplace within the center, between a totally electrical truck and a throwback just like the Tasman—and maybe involving a long-rumored product associated to the Hyundai Santa Cruz, from its company cousin. Kia plans so as to add extra plug-in hybrids and hybrids to the lineup—with extra fashions, gross sales quantity, and electrical vary, even maybe a modest EV structure with a variety extender. Any of these choices may give Kia and its prospects a number of the up-front worth the truck market is lacking proper now.
