Kia Tasman SUV firms to fight Prado, Everest

KIA Australia is engaged in an international effort to secure a new ladder-frame four-wheel drive wagon for local sale, leveraging the brand’s newly developed platform underpinning the Tasman ute that launches locally this week.

Active discussion about the viability of a Tasman SUV is currently taking place between Kia headquarters in Seoul, Korea, and regional markets that are already under contract to sell the Tasman ute, with Australia playing a leading role in advocating for production of the vehicle.

There is additional urgency to the project as Kia Australia has confirmed that its request for the next-generation version of the US-built Telluride large three-row SUV (pictured) to be imported to Australia has been rejected.

GoAuto understands prelimintary development work has been completed on the Toyota LandCruiser Prado and Ford Everest rival, but formal approval has not yet been signed off by brand heads in Korea.

According to local Kia executives, the commercial viability of the model depends on achieving scale across multiple world markets and would also hinge on whether South Africa, a fellow right-hand drive nation, would take the 4WD.

“The business case would (then) solidify and I think (a Tasman SUV) would be the next thing you’d see coming our way,” Kia Australia general manager of product planning Roland Rivero told GoAuto.

Kia Australia believes there would be strong demand for a rugged wagon to sit aside the Tasman ute in its range, and above the existing unibody Sorento three-row SUV that will increasingly concentrate on hybrid powertrains.

“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,” Mr Rivero explained.

“They want to be able to tow, go off-road, a bit more than the school run.”

The prospective SUV would share its ladder frame and underpinnings with the Tasman midsize pick-up but would feature a wagon design making it considerably friendlier for family use than a ute.

To minimise development costs, it is likely the Tasman SUV would also make use of the ute’s 154kW/440Nm turbocharged 2.2-litre  four-cylinder diesel engine, at least at first, though a hybrid version would likely be necessary in coming years under Australia’s NVES emissions regulations.

Mr Rivero’s team believes the rugged 4WD would complement, rather than cannibalise, sales of the Sorento, which continues to perform strongly in Australia (accruing 9791 deliveries in 2024), and the Tasman, which is subject to a bullish 20,000 annual sales target.

“We would see it as largely incremental business (on top of Sorento and Tasman),” said Mr Rivero.

GoAuto understands that the decision to green-light the development of a completely new ladder frame for the Tasman ute, as opposed to adapting a 17-year-old frame from Kia’s Korean-market Mohave 4WD, was contingent on additional vehicles using the new frame to assist amortisation.

A Tasman SUV is the most obvious additional use case, though the frame is also likely to underpin a future battery electric (BEV) or plug-in hybrid (PHEV) ute. Sister brand Hyundai recently expressed its interest in adapting the Tasman platform for use in a hybrid pick-up.

Meanwhile, hopes of bringing the Kia Telluride SUV to Australia have been completely extinguished. While a second-generation of the Telluride, which is very popular in the US, goes into production later this year, right-hand drive is not available.

“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,” added Mr Rivero.

Despite years of lobbying from Kia Australia, including investigations into shifting some production to South Korea or allocating right-hand drive builds from the US, Kia has opted to reserve the Telluride for North America, citing overwhelming domestic demand.

“I’ll be honest, I love the Telluride,” continued Mr 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.

“There were investigations, so to speak, of other plants that could produce (Telluride) and unfortunately that did not go to plan. It is strictly the North American factory.

“Sadly, I don’t see Telluride ever making its way to Australia.”

Still, Kia Australia is buoyed by the fact that sales of Prado/Everest-segment ladder frame 4WDs remain very strong in Australia—and that is the niche a Tasman SUV will tap into if it is secured for this market.

In the first six months of 2025, Toyota delivered 15,583 examples of its new-generation Prado, trailed by the Ford Everest (12,294). In the same period, the car-based Hyundai Palisade (a cousin of the Kia Telluride) has shifted 1036 units albeit in run-out mode.