Kia's Truck Is Failing So Bad It Could Take An SUV Down With It

And the brand has even been considering a potential SUV variant of the Tasman to take on foreign equivalents of the Toyota 4Runner. However, recent comments suggest that the SUV version is not going to happen anytime soon... if it happens at all.

Kia Tasman Pickup Sales Have Not Justified An SUV Version
Early Kia Tasman sales reports for the first year are in, and they have been brutal. Through November 2025, Kia had delivered just 3,700 Tasman pickups in Australia, putting the truck in ninth place among Australian pickups and well off Kia's sales targets. According to Roland Rivero, Kia Australia's general manager for production planning, a Kia Tasman-based SUV is predicated on the pickup truck's sales success, and with strong sales not happening at the moment, a body-on-frame SUV is "not the highest of priorities" for Kia.

"By all means, any study of an added body style variant would be incumbent on the success of the ute first and foremost," Rivero told the Australian outlet Drive. "I'm not saying it's off the shelf, or it's no longer on the cards, but an SUV is not the highest of priorities right this very moment."

Rivero also told Drive that SUV development would depend on not just Australian but also global outlets, including South America, the Middle East, and Korea, expressing interest as well. Kia is considering introducing a hybrid variant version of the truck to help boost sales, which would increase the likelihood of an SUV.

Kia already confirmed the Tasman is not coming to the American market. The brand builds the truck domestically in South Korea, and any foreign-built pickup automatically incurs a 25% tariff under the US "Chicken Tax." But that doesn't mean Kia does not see the potential for a truck in the American market. In April 2025, Kia announced plans to build an electric midsize truck for North America, with an ambitious target of selling 90,000 units annually. Other manufacturers have been scaling back EV plans, though Kia has not done that as of this writing.

Kia's corporate sibling, Hyundai, is launching a body-on-frame midsize pickup in America before 2030. Hyundai also teased a potential Toyota 4Runner rival built on that platform. Hyundai has not made any announcements about powertrains yet, though Hyundai Group confirmed it is bringing EREV tech to market. And a Hyundai truck bed patent suggests the brand is looking at some form of electrified powertrain. That body-on-frame platform could underpin a new G-Wagen rival from Genesis. And while Kia has not announced anything yet, it seems plausible that the Korean brand could use that platform to build its own truck or SUV at some point.