Kia’s upcoming ute, due in 2025, could be getting a distinctively Australasian name: Tasman.

A trademark filing lodged in Australia shows Kia has trademarked the name Tasman for a vehicle. It’s Kia’s only local trademark filing for a vehicle name in the past 12 months.

The new ute is referred to internally as TK and it has been benchmarked against the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux. Development began in 2020.

It will pack diesel power when it arrives here 2025 though there is a separate programme developing other powertrains.
Kia says the TK/Tasman is a “strategic model for emerging markets.

Prototypes have been spied testing in Korea disguised in sheetmetal from the older body-on-frame Mohave SUV.
Kia has homologated its latest 3.0-litre diesel to Euro 6 standards.

According to dealers briefed on the vehicle, Kia has been benchmarking the TK against the segment-leading Ranger and HiLux to “achieve towing capacity and payload targets” meaning a braked towing capacity of 3500kg and a payload around the 1000kg mark.

This rules out the ute being a Kia version of the softer, car-based Hyundai Santa Cruz offered in North America.

The down under ute segment is likely to look different by 2025. Ford has confirmed a Ranger plug-in hybrid is launching in Europe in 2024. The next Toyota HiLux is due around the same time likely based on the same TNGA-F architecture underpinning the Land Cruiser, potentially with hybrid and all-electric options.

Beyond that, a new Mitsubishi Triton and Nissan Navara are on the horizon based on common underpinnings. Mitsubishi is also working on an electric ute to sit alongside the Triton.