A pickup truck from a Korean automaker? It seemed like a crazy idea. However, the success of the Hyundai Santa Cruz spurred Kia to develop its own product. The 2025 Kia Tasman pickup is expected to debut later this year and hit many global markets, potentially even America.
Just a few days ago, a prototype for the Kia Tasman was spotted in an underground car park by local YouTuber car spotter Woopa TV. Although heavily camouflaged (see footage below), the Tasman test prototype did reveal a pleasingly boxy and rugged design with all the quality and design we expect from Kia.
The footage from Woopa TV was then processed by the website Kolesa.ru to create these accurate renderings of the Tasman. We believe they come pretty close to what the production model will be when it’s ready. As you can see, Kia’s first pickup borrows heavily from the existing Mohave SUV’s design.
This isn’t because Kia used a Mohave as their test mule. Rather, Korean designers are trying to give this brand-new product a familiar look to make people go “That’s a Kia.” And it’s impossible to mistake this for anything other than a Korean pickup. It’s got a large “tiger nose” grille with vertical bars, vertically stacked LED headlights, and unique black cladding on top of the wheel arch.
At the rear, we see a modern bumper design and LED taillights that flow onto the tailgate, reminiscent of the EV9 electric flagship crossover.
Kia’s body-on-frame pickup
Kia doesn’t want the Tasman to overlap with Hyundai’s Santa Cruz. As such, this new pickup isn’t built like a crossover (unibody) but rather uses a traditional body-on-frame layout. Thus, the engineers have chosen to base the Tasman on the chassis of the Mohave, marketed in the United States as the Borrego after its introduction in 2008.
It’s likely the Tasman pickup will be built at the same factory, Hwasung Plant, Hwasung. Also, it will likely share the 3.0-liter CRDi V6 engine and 8-speed automatic. The main market for this configuration is going to be Australia and New Zealand. However, it’s likely the North American market would receive either the 3.8-liter 291 hp V6 from the Telluride or a turbocharged unit.
