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All-New Kia Tasman Debuts As Global Ford Ranger Competitor

The Ford Ranger has long been a popular entity not only in the U.S., but also, a bevy of global markets, where those seeking to purchase a truck of any kind have gravitate toward it in throes. This is especially true in places like Australia, where the Ranger recently took the Toyota Hilux’s spot atop the sales charts, and the recently redesigned model isn’t looking back, either, adding new trims like the Tremor, as well as the all-new plug-in hybrid variant. Now, another Ranger competitor has debuted for global markets – the all-new Kia Tasman.

A side view of the Kia Tasman pickup.

The Kia Tasman is that brand’s very first pickup truck of any kind, and it deviates considerably from its current styling language as well – whether or not that’s a good thing, well, we’ll leave that for consumers to decide. In any event, the Tasman certainly doesn’t look like anything else on the road today, but at its core, it’s a real-deal pickup truck with body-on-frame construction and a solid rear axle, paired with an independent front suspension. Max payload comes in at 2,635 pounds, and the Kia Tasman can also tow up to 7,716 pounds, both of which are strong numbers in this segment.

The Kia Tasman will be sold in single cab or crew cab form (the latter with a six-foot bed) across three trims – Baseline, X-Line, and the off-road-focused X-Pro – with the Baseline being the only one available in a rear-wheel drive configuration, with all-wheel drive offered as an option. Engine choices consist of a 2.5L gas unit that churns out 277 horsepower and 311 pound-feet of torque and is mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission, as well as a 2.2L diesel producing 207 horses and 325 pound-feet paired with either the same eight-speed automatic or a six-speed manual transmission.

Inside the cabin, one will find a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and a 12.3-inch center infotainment touchscreen, a pair of wireless charging pads, and Android Auto/Apple CarPlay compatibility. In terms of availability, the Kia Tasman will launch first in Korea in the first half of 2025, followed by Australia, Africa, and the Middle East, though the brand hasn’t yet announced any other markets it might be sold in, nor has it shared any pricing info as of yet. Regardless, we should known much more when we get closer to that initial launch.

Brett's lost track of all the Fords he's owned over the years and how much he's spent modifying them, but his current money pits include an S550 Mustang and 13th gen F-150.

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Comments

  1. Tasman, hideous

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  2. IF,I repeat IF, you could get this in the US it would sell like crazy. But we will never see it here.

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  3. The dark grey color seems to blunt the flat out ugliness of the front end; so that would be the way to go, dark grey or black. The Hyundai Santa Cruz front face would have been the way to go. Just an ugly, awkward design, imo.

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  4. Ugly! Many of us, and Consumer Reports, dislike these odd, non-round steering wheels too. What’s up with that? Form over function, but aesthetics loses here.

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  5. Yes, a non-round steering wheel mars an otherwise decent interior (the new Lincoln Nautilus got dinged for that wheel as well). But the exterior is the ugliest I’ve EVER seen on a pickup. Absolutely atrocious.

    Reply

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