Ford Ranger Served As Benchmark For Kia Tasman

The Kia Tasman just made its long-awaited debut as the very first pickup truck ever sold by that brand earlier this week. For now, at least, the Tasman won’t be sold in the U.S., but it is heading to a variety of global markets in the coming months, where it will do battle with the Ford Ranger and a host of other mid-size pickups. Thus, perhaps it isn’t too terribly surprising to learn that the Ranger served as an important benchmark during development of the Kia Tasman.

“We’ve benchmarked the best in the category – particularly the award-winning and volume-selling Ford Ranger – and [the Kia Tasman] will be a competitive package,” said Roland Rivero, Kia Australia’s general manager of product planning, according to Australia’s Drive. Though it’s sold in many global markets, the Ford Ranger has long been mega-popular in Australia, specifically, where the recently redesigned model overtook the Toyota Hilux on the sales charts in the 2023 calendar year. Notably, Kia also benchmarked the new Tasman against the Hilux, too, though executives from that company mentioned the Ranger multiple times during its debut.

Regardless, the Kia Tasman has more modest sales goals when compared to the 63,000 Rangers that Ford sold in Australia in 2023, as well as the Hilux and its 61,000 sales. Kia notes that it is eyeing a 10 percent share of that market with around 20,000 to 25,000 sales annually. “Up against the dynamic benchmarks – [such as] the Ford Ranger – the Tasman is competitive, offering excellent ride comfort, capable and confident cornering capability; it’s a confident urban dweller, and even better on the open road or on rough country roads,” Rivero added.

As for the Tasman’s controversial exterior styling, Kia was quick to note that it felt like it needed to do something different to stand out in a crowded segment. “The expressive design that we created – with the market being so well established – we had to make something new,” said John Buckingham, vice president of next exterior design.”So, it’s going to be a new product, with a new character.”