‘We are not satisfied’: Why this ute flopped and how it could be fixed

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The Kia Tasman cannot be called a success. 

Kia Australia pledged 20,000 sales in the first 12 months on sale, yet in 10 months to April 2026 only 5854 units have been delivered. 

“Clearly we are not satisfied yet. We had a lot of expectations and we are still [at] the starting point,” explained Spencer Cho, Kia senior vice president and head of global business planning sub-division. 

“The early disappointment we have in the Australian market gave us lessons. We will provide counter measures for the coming years.” 

But what exactly are these countermeasures? The shortest-term local solution is huge discounts. Up-spec models have these applied, approaching $15,000 for the X-Pro ($64,990 driveaway) and $12,000 for the X-Line ($59,990 driveaway).

There’s more to it, though, with everything apparently on the table. Mr Cho told us powertrains, new features, content and of course a styling overhaul are all being considered. 

“Currently we are working on every area we can improve the performance of the Tasman — especially in the Australian market.”

While extra equipment and features are short-term, styling is a longer lead with Cho calling that a “mid-term” change. Think facelift, and think anywhere from 18 months to three years from now. 

“Kia Australia is getting a lot of the feedback from media, dealers and also the actual customers. We are collecting all of the feedback from [every channel], we are distributing all that information within our company within R&D, design, purchasing and even production divisions. 

“We are preparing counter-measures which will improve the competitiveness of the Tasman,” said Cho. 

What about powertrains and body styles?

Aside from its controversial styling, the Tasman’s powertrain is another aspect where it struggles to compete. The Volkswagen Amarok has a V6, the BYD Shark and GWM Cannon Alpha have plug-in hybrids (PHEV), and the Ford Ranger has both options covered. 

It sounds like all options are on the table right now, from battery electric through plug-in hybrid to possibly an even more powerful internal combustion engine — but nothing has been settled yet. 

The other play for Kia would be to take the Tasman’s ladder-frame chassis and build an off-road-capable SUV from it, neatly complementing existing large family road-focused options such as the EV9 and Sorento. 

Existing brands do this with good success, spreading platform investment across more models. Examples include the Ranger-based Ford Everest and D-Max-based Isuzu MU-X. 

“That might be another option but at this point we are trying to focus on what we can do better,” Cho told Australian media.