Kia Tasman sales boom sounds warning shot for Australian ute market - but there's a Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger-sized catch...

The Kia Tasman is off to a flying start in its home market, with the brand's first dual-cab attracting 30 per cent of the country's average ute sales – or 4000 sales – in just 17 days.

They're the sales results from Korea, Kia's home country, where the Tasman is shaping as a sizeable sales success – in fact, more than 2000 were sold on the very first day of sales. But there's a catch.

In Australia, where dual-cab utes have become a part of our automotive fabric, the three best-selling utes are the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux and Isuzu D-Max – though the plug-in powered BYD Shark 6 finished on the podium in February, due in part to carryover sales that weren't recorded correctly in January.

Read More About Kia Tasman

Why the 2025 Kia Tasman ute looks great | Opinion 'We think that Tasman will deliver': Kia confident that its Ford Ranger, Isuzu D-Max-rivalling 2025 Kia Tasman ute can hit sales targets in Australia, despite online response to design Kia Tasman price shock! All-new diesel dual-cab shapes as absolute bargain as confirmed international pricing would put it well below the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux flagships

In Korea, however, the pick-up market is tiny. Just 13,475 were sold in 2024. For comparison, Australians bought more than 18,000 utes in February alone.

And crucially, there's no Ranger, HiLux or D-Max to contend with. Instead, the Tasman is up against models like the KG Mobility Rexton Sports, the Chevrolet Colorado, and Chevrolet Sierra.

In Korea, the Tasman is offered exclusively with a 2.5-litre turbo-petrol engine, while in Australia the new ute will be exclusively diesel – a 2.2-litre diesel that produces 154kW and 441Nm paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission.

Still, the Tasman will have to achieve similar success in Australia to hit Kia's fairly lofty sales goals of 20,000 units per annum in our market.

“It's hard to judge when you see it on a YouTube video or on a screen, but when you actually, physically stand beside it, we think that it's quite an imposing product, and we're still confident our target, 20,000 a year, is something that we can achieve with the product," Kia Australia’s General Manager of Product Planning Roland Rivero recently told CarsGuide.

“We're equally confident in its capability as well, as that's our big focus. As a workhorse tool of trade, a durable and reliable workhorse for that matter, we think that Tasman will deliver.”

Possibly assisting the Tasman in Korea is sharp pricing. In Korea, the Tasman is offered in four trim levels, with the range kicking off with the Dynamic, at 37.5 million won, or $41,033, before stepping up the Adventure, which is 41.1 million won, or $44,971.

The range then climbs to the Extreme, which 44.9 million won, or $49,129, before topping out with the flagship X-PRO listing at 52.4 million won, or $57,336.

But those prices won't be replicated in Australia. For example, the Sorento GT Line (called the Signature Gravity in Korea) converts to $52,280 in its domestic market with a 2.2-litre diesel and AWD. In Australia, a similar spec and trim is more like $69,000 MSRP — a $17k difference.

With that in mind, you can likely expect around a $15k-$20k premium added to Korea’s Tasman pricing.