Kia is planning a Tasman SUV model to target Toyota Prado and Ford Everest buyers in Australia, with negotiations occurring across the Kia business to ensure sufficient global demand to green-light the 4WD wagon.
Early development work is understood to have already been completed on the Tasman SUV. The decision to plan such vehicle was made in order to maximise the commercial success of the brand-new ladder frame designed exclusively for the Tasman ute at vast expense.
For Kia Australia, the Tasman SUV is also a product of necessity. A years-long effort to lobby brand headquarters in Seoul to import the US-built Telluride three-row SUV to Australia has failed, with local Kia chiefs now writing off the chance the Telluride will ever come to Australia.
Australia has voted “yes” to the Tasman SUV, and a diplomatic effort is now underway to secure the support of Kia distributors in South Africa, the Middle East and South America to agree to sell a sufficient volume of the Isuzu MU-X rival to justify finishing development of the wagon.
“The business case would [then] solidify, and I think [Tasman SUV] would be the next thing you’d see coming our way,” Kia general manager of product planning Roland Rivero told Chasing Cars.
Tasman SUV seen as huge opportunity in Australia
Whereas the Telluride is a unibody, car-based SUV and can be described as a cousin of the Hyundai Palisade (which is sold in Australia), the Tasman SUV would be a truly rugged four-wheel drive with the same body-on-frame design as a Tasman. It would be a Prado rival here.
“[Tasman SUV] would have a huge role to play,” said Rivero.
“The large SUV category can be divided into monocoque versus ladder frame, and there is a bit of overlap in between, but to a large extent customers buying ladder frame SUVs have a definitive need. They want to be able to tow, go off-road, a bit more than the school run.”
Kia planners are not concerned about cannibalisation of sales of the smaller Sorento seven-seat SUV in Australia which would be expected to continue in the market even if the Tasman SUV eventuates, particularly because Sorento will increasingly be sold with hybrid powertrains.
Further, the new Kia Tasman ute, which launches in Australia this week, is attracting customers intending to use that vehicle for both work and play whereas a Tasman SUV would primarily be a family wagon capable of off-roading.
“We would see it as largely incremental business [on top of Sorento and Tasman],” said Rivero.
Kia rejected Australia’s demand for Telluride SUV
Meanwhile, Kia is putting the finishing touches on the second-generation Telluride, which will go into production in Georgia, USA later this year. The inaugural Telluride, which measured 5000mm long, met with wild popularity in the US market.
“If I was going to put my money on which one would see the light of day for Australia, I’d be leaning towards a Tasman SUV,” said Rivero.
While Rivero and other senior Kia Australia employees entreated head office in Seoul to either allocate some US production of the Telluride to Australia—or to build the Telluride in Korea, as the Hyundai Palisade is—Kia has made a final decision to keep Telluride for America.
“I’ll be honest, I love the Telluride,” said Rivero. “The new generation, which I’ve seen in the flesh and in clay model, looks fantastic. I think it would sell very well, much like the Palisade is doing for Hyundai.
“But as much as we have asked for it, the Georgia factory cannot keep up with North American demand and it would make no business sense for them to add complexity to the production line for right-hand drive when they are struggling to satisfy demand of their own.
“Sadly, I don’t see Telluride ever making its way to Australia,” Rivero said.
Hyundai and Kia are sister brands within the Hyundai Motor Company, and the head marque is currently enjoying a clear run in the large three-row SUV space locally. The Palisade, which will imminently be replaced with a second-gen version, accrued 3062 local sales in 2024.
Still, the smaller Kia Sorento managed 9791 deliveries in the same period.
The opportunity is even larger for a Tasman SUV-style rugged four-wheel drive, however. In the first six months of 2025, Toyota has sold 15,583 Prados in Australia, trailed by the Ford Everest’s 12,294 deliveries.