Kia Is Planning a Midsize Pickup Specifically for America, Unlike the Tasman
All we know so far about Kia's future midsize pickup is that it won't just be a Tasman. The post Kia Is Planning a Midsize Pickup Specifically for America, Unlike the Tasman appeared first on The Drive.
Kia is officially in the early stages of planning a midsize truck for the U.S. market. Company CEO Ho Sung Song told media at the Seoul Mobility Show this week that it is actively studying the project and will have more to share about the concept next week, during the company’s annual Investor Day presentation, Automotive News reports.
Perhaps more tantalizing than the news than the teaser itself is the repetition of this old chestnut: It won’t be a Tasman—Kia’s conventional midsize truck that competes overseas with the Ford Ranger, VW Amarok, Toyota Hilux, and others.
“We are now seriously studying how to get into the pickup truck market in the United States through a different model that is not the Tasman,” he told show attendees.
We can interpret that in several different ways. Perhaps he means that it won’t be called the Tasman, despite retaining the same basic body-on-frame architecture that underpins its global pickup. He could also mean that it will be something entirely unrelated, perhaps more akin to the unibody Hyundai Santa Cruz. Though “midsize” does imply it’d be closer to a Chevrolet Colorado, Nissan Frontier, Toyota Tacoma, or U.S.-spec Ranger.
There’s also a third option: Electrification. Hyundai is on the record saying that its new IMA (“Integrated Modular Architecture”) platform was designed from the get-go to accommodate a pickup truck. Slated to replace the already-diverse E-GMP platform in the coming years, IMA will eventually be the central platform for all of Hyundai’s and Kia’s electrified vehicles.
Regardless, a Korean pickup sold in the U.S. would almost certainly have to be manufactured here. Even before today’s tariffs were a thing, heavy import duties on utility vehicles have long made it impractical for automakers to ship foreign-built pickups to the United States. Hopefully, we’ll learn something more substantial next Wednesday, April 9, during Kia’s presentation.
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The post Kia Is Planning a Midsize Pickup Specifically for America, Unlike the Tasman appeared first on The Drive.
