Can Kia save the Tasman Ute |

Tasman Ute – Ute sales in Australia are important. Any brand that wants to maintain its top ten status would say they need a Ute in their lineup.

Utes have been the top selling models for a few years now and consistently feature in monthly top ten sales figures.

Everywhere you look there are Utes driving around. Tradies use them, council workers use them. Families use them for recreational activities.

In fact, I have said it many times and conjured the phrase –

Utes are the Swiss army knife of cars.

Australia is credited with inventing the Ute, specifically the Ford Coupe Utility. This vehicle was designed in 1934 by Ford Australia in response to a request from a farmer’s wife who needed a vehicle that could transport her family to church on Sundays and carry goods to market during the week.

So, after many years – Kia dutifully jumped into the pond with their Tasman Ute.

Tasman Ute Sales optimism

With recent sales successes for Kia vehicles, there was much optimism around sales figures for the Tasman.

Reasons for this optimism include:

Kia builds good quality cars.
They have grown into a top ten brand with many devoted followers.
Buyers had been crying out for a Kia Ute for many years.
The Ute market in Australia is perhaps the strongest globally.

It’s well known that their target was 20,000 sales in a full year. This figure was spruiked by all Kia executives. Given that the total Ute sales in Australia are around 245,000 every year, this figure seemed possible. They wanted a 10% market share.

Sales Results

However, reality set in. Let’s ignore 2025 results, because the full product range wasn’t available, short year, etc.

But by YTD end April 2026 they have sold 1658 Utes. Ute buyers are very parochial.

That’s more than Jeep Gladiator, JAC T9 or LDV T60 and even the VW Amarok. But nowhere near their main competitors and well short of the enthusiastic targets set.

But Kia wanted to be up with the big boys.

So far this year Kia has sold less Utes than Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger, Isuzu D-Max, Mazda BT-50, Nissan Navara, GWM Cannon and even the BYD Shark 6.

Lets look at that last mentioned Ute.

BYD Shark 6 PHEV vs Kia Tasman Ute

Here is a Ute that looks similar to the Tasman, but subtle design differences sees it well accepted by the market. It has a similar three box design, yet no one says the BYD is ugly.

Almost everyone says the Tasman is ugly.

BYD has a different powertrain. Having a PHEV engine with around 100km EV only range sets it apart from the range of diesel Utes.

I think that PHEV Utes are here solely to pacify the draconian NVES rules and Hybrids are much better.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Tasman Engine/transmission combination. It’s been tried and tested in many Kia/Hyundai models.

Yet when introduced to the market it didn’t stand out.

As far as interior space and ambience goes, the BYD is good, the Kia is much better.

On road ride and handling, similarly the BYD is good, the Kia is so much better its almost in a different class.

Off road there is simply no comparison. The Kia stands out for its 4WD capability.

The BYD truly is better bought as a lifestyle Ute. Its AWD system may let you down at the most inopportune times far from civilisation.

Towing is probably where they are similar especially with the 2.0l BYD engine.

Yet the BYD Shark 6 outsells the Kia Tasman by a factor of three plus.

Price has a lot to do with that as well.

Kia Tasman Ute launch

Kia introduced the Tasman Ute with possibly the most expensive and prolific marketing campaign of any car launch in recent memory.

They went all out with a campaign that included many famous sports stars and a clever, coordinated media campaign. At the launch they turned the historic gold town of Sofala in to Tasman Town.

Overall, it was absolutely spectacular.

However, at the first reveal and later at the launch I thought three things.

It’s a bit expensive for new model. In some cases, by up to $10,000 I felt.
It doesn’t have an engine that excites. There is nothing wrong with what it has, but they needed something different at launch to grab people’s attention and
It is ugly. There is no getting away from that. I don’t mind it as its different, but it turns buyers off more than anything else.

It’s well-known im a big fan of the Tasman Ute.

It has SUV like on road ride and handling,
With an interior far superior to almost every other Ute available.
It’s capable off road and in the heavy duty stuff as well.
And it’s better to drive around town than almost all other Utes.

What could Kia have done differently.

These are things I have said from day one directly to the Kia executives.

Perhaps been a bit humbler with its pricing structure. It priced the Tasman against the likes of HiLux and Ranger. Both models with a long history and strong buyer loyalty.
It may be a premium product, but the market needed to get into them to see that.
Had a choice of engines from day one. As mentioned, the turbo diesel engine is pretty good. But they needed something that would grab headlines. A hero car. Im not a fan of PHEVS but they do have headline power and torque figures.
Even a hybrid would have added to the appeal.
Or as a completely out of the box suggestion, something that rivals the Ranger Raptor.
There were other designs put forward for the Tasman. I know Australia was pushing for a different design.
It’s said that the choice came right from the top. Well, they need to live with that now and not blame the markets for sales failures.