Kia won't rule out high-performance Tasman ute yet
Yesterday at 07:19 PM
New government regulations may have killed the possibility of a high-powered Kia Tasman ute, but the company hasn’t completely shut the door on the idea.
The 2025 Kia Tasman was unveiled at several international events on Tuesday, with the ute to come with a four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine as standard – but the chance of a more powerful engine hasn’t been entirely ruled out at this stage.
Kia announced the Tasman will get a variation of the 2.2-litre turbo-diesel engine found in the Sorento, though with power slightly increased by 6kW and 1Nm for a total output of 154kW and 441Nm.
However, during a Q&A session with Australian media – including Drive – executives from Kia were asked whether a six-cylinder engine was under consideration to compete with vehicles such as the Ford Ranger Raptor.
“Look, we wouldn’t completely close the door on [fitting a six-cylinder engine],” said Roland Rivero, General Manager of Product Planning for Kia Australia.
“But we have to be mindful of that word NVES,” he added, referring to the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard – a forthcoming scheme from the Australian Government to incentivise the sale of fuel-efficient and low-emissions vehicles.
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Mr Rivero suggested fitting a larger, more powerful engine would also come with “huge penalties” from the NVES due to the greater exhaust emissions.
While the senior Kia executive poured cold water on the idea of a high-performance Tasman, he wouldn’t rule it out entirely.
“So what we have looked at – we’ve dissected the category, 80 per cent of sales are still in the four-cylinder category. We’ve gone for that big 80 to start off with,” he said.
“We do have a long product lifecycle – and, you never know – but, at this point in time, it’s looking highly unlikely.
“With the current movement in green-car tech and government legislation, it’s going to be very, very difficult to have that type of powertrain.
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“I understand the desirability for it, I understand how cool it can be, but we’ve got to play the balancing act as a business,” Mr Rivero added.
While Australian buyers will be exclusively offered the 2.2-litre turbo-diesel engine, overseas buyers will have the option of a 2.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine, making 207kW and 421Nm – dropping the 0-100km/h sprint time of the Tasman by almost two seconds.
The 2025 Kia Tasman is expected to go on sale in mid-2025.
The post Kia won’t rule out high-performance Tasman ute yet appeared first on Drive.
