Meet the Kia Tasman – the South Korean brand’s new double-cab bakkie, which Kia South Africa aims to launch in our market during the second half of 2025.
After a lengthy teaser campaign, Kia finally unveiled its Tasman double-cab bakkie at the Jeddah Motor Show in Saudi Arabia this morning (October 29). Kia says it will introduce its bold newcomer in Africa (including Mzansi!), Australia and the Middle East, among other markets, next year.
“Kia’s first-ever pickup truck was created from the ground up to transform the market and respond to the growing preference for lifestyle-oriented trucks with advanced features,” said Ho Sung Song, President and CEO at Kia.
The new bakkie will be built in South Korea and features an all-new platform with a body-on-frame setup. It’s a clean-sheet design, but the grille and headlamps are interpretations of classic Kia design elements.
The Tasman will be produced in single and double-cab guises (including a specific off-road version), and for the commercial market, there will be chassis-cab variants as well.
I managed to make my way through the crowds for an up-close inspection of the newcomer. The design is very bold and quite unlike any other bakkie I’ve seen – it incorporates some interesting design details!
As for the interior, it looks excellent – the fascia is dominated by a panoramic wide display that includes a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, a 5-inch climate control console and a 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen. Other notable interior features include a large folding console table, dual wireless charging pads and hidden storage bins concealed beneath the rear seats that offer a storage capacity of 33 litres.
Moreover, it’s quite a spacious bakkie, especially at the back. The Kia Tasman is said to offer “best-in-segment headroom, shoulder room and 2nd-row legroom of 940 mm”, with the rear seatbacks able to recline between 22- and 30 degrees, the manufacturer says.
Engines and Transmission
The Kia Tasman will be powered by a 205 kW/421 Nm 2.5-litre turbopetrol engine, which is said to propel the bakkie from 0-100 kph in 8.5 sec, or a 154 KW/441 Nm 2.2-litre turbodiesel (it differs from market to market), and customers will be able to choose between an 8-speed automatic or a 6-speed manual ‘box.
Both the X-Line and X-Pro variants will be equipped with all-wheel-drive as standard, but the base version will be 2WD. Kia says the AWD system can switch automatically to the configuration required to provide optimum traction on different road surfaces and it offers 3 drive modes – ECO, Smart and Sport – with various terrain modes available within these settings depending on the relevant market.
Of course, being a bakkie means it has to be able to take on the toughest of terrain. Kia says the Tasman has 800 mm of wading depth and ground clearance of 224 mm (up to 252 mm for the X-Pro offroad trim). Higher-spec derivatives will have an automatically engaging rear electronic locking differential.
The Kia Tasman’s load bay is 1 512 mm long, 1 572 mm wide (1 186 mm between the wheel housings), and 540 mm deep, which according to Kia, provides best-in-class cargo capability of 1 173 liters.
When will Kia Tasman come to South Africa?
“The all-new Kia Tasman presents an exciting new opportunity for Kia globally, and indeed in South Africa,” says Paul Turnbull, the CEO of Kia South Africa.
“We are hard at work to make the Tasman’s local introduction a reality, and based on current planning, we aim to do this in the second half of 2025.”
Further Reading
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