Kia Tasman need to know facts

The Kia Tasman is the South Korean car maker's first attempt at a medium-sized pick-up truck.

Although the Tasman isn't coming to Europe or the UK (not that we know of, yet) to join the range of PBV vans, like the Kia PV5, it's causing quite a stir elsewhere in the world.

Here are the need to know facts about this new pick-up truck from Kia.

Kia's first pick-up truck

The Kia Tasman uses a traditional body-on-frame chassis design, which is a statement of intent from the car maker who are more accustomed to building SUVs than proper off-roaders. The Tasman is designed to be a proper workhorse and because of that it's targetting the most demanding markets, inlcuding the Middle East and Australia.

What engine does the Kia Tasman have?

The Kia Tasman gets a choice of turbo-charged four-cylinder engines, depending on the market.

South Korean versions of the Tasman use a 2.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine producing 277hp and 422Nm of torque.

For the Australian market the Tasman uses a 2.2-litre turbo-diesel engine with 207hp and 440Nm of torque.

If you're reading this in either the Middle East or Africa, though, you're in luck. Because both markets get both engines.

The Kia Tasman is available in both two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive. The four-wheel-drive system is selectable, rather than permenant, with additional terrain modes (Snow, Mud, Sand, and Rock) to improve performance when off-road. There's a locking rear differential as well as various driving modes (Eco, Smart, and Sport) for different steering and throttle feel.

Kia Tasman dimensions and payload

The Kia Tasman has an overall length of 5410mm and a width of 1930mm. The Tasman height varies from 1.87m to 1.92m depending on the version.

It's built on a 3270mm wheelbase and for off-roading purposes it has a 252mm ground clearance and 800mm wading depth.

The Tasman load bed is capable of carrying up to 1,173 litres, and gets nifty new features like side storage compartments within the load bed. These also fold out to become a table.

The Kia Tasman has a payload capacity of between 1,017kg and 1,145kg (which would be ideal for the UK) and the Tasman's towing capacity is up to 3500kg for a braked trailer.

Interior and tech

On the inside there's an integrating a 12.3-inch infotainment screen along with a 5-inch climate control display. The driver display is also 12.3 inches, and there's wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, and wireless charging pads.

The Tasman pick-up truck also gets a hidden under-seat storage compartment with 33 litres of space, and for those in the back there's the ability ot recline the second row seats.

Safety and off-road systems

The Kia Tasman gets all the modern on-road safety and off-road system you'd expect with ADAS systems. On top of the terrain modes, the X-Pro model gets its own X-Trek mode for low-speed off-roading, as well as a Ground View Monitor.

Where is the Kia Tasman sold?

Kia's initial rollout of the Tasman was in its home market of Korea, as well as Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, and Africa.

Kia Tasman will not be available in the UK, Europe, the United States, Canada, or Mexico. However, speaking at Investor Day 2025, Kia CEO Ho-Sung Song confirmed plans for a dedicated full-size pick-up for the North American market.

The Tasman launched in Australia and New Zealand on April 17, 2025 with deliveries in Australia starting from July. These will be followed by New Zealand in August 2025.

Kia's domestic market of South Korea will get the Tasman midway through 2025.

Middle East and Africa will get the Tasman pickup truck later in 2025

Kia Tasman price

Kia has priced the Tasman range to be competitive with the established mid-size pickup trucks.

That means that the Kia Tasman price in Australia starts at $42,990 AUD for the S 4x2 variant. The price of the range topping Tasman increases to $74,990 AUD for the flagship X-Pro 4x4 truck.

Kia Tasman UK price

We got you excited there. Unfortunately, it was just a ruse. There is no Kia Tasman UK price because there are no plans to sell it in the UK. Pricing for the Tasman in the UK and its availability may, however, depend on the success of the Kia PBV van range.

The newly launched PBV range of vans that include PV5, PV7 and PV9 will launch throughout the next few years. A succesful Kia vans business could mean there's a chance the Tasman comes to the UK as well, which would mean we'll be able to tell you the Tasman UK price.

The Tasman is built on the same production site as the PBV van range at the Hwaseong EVO plant in Seoul. However, the PBV range is electric-only, and presently there are no plans to for an electric Tasman pickup.

Australian trim levels

With so few markets getting the Tasman, Australia is the place to look towards to get the details.

As the first market to get the Tasman it gives us a bit more of a clue about the range.

The Tasman is initially only being offered as a double cab pick-up, but there's a choice of five variants. It starts with S, which is available in both 4x2 and 4x4. Then there's SX and SX+ which are both 4x4 only. The range topping Tasman is the off-road focused X-Pro, which is also 4x4 only.

Kia plans to introduce double cab chassis models later in 2025, followed by single-cab chassis variants towards the end of the year.