When it comes to midsize pickups, the models that usually come to mind are those from the Japanese marques, such as Toyota, Nissan, and Mitsubishi, or from Ford. However, there have been a couple of challengers that are aiming their sights on those popular models.
Some Chinese manufacturers are stepping up in the pickup market. Great Wall and Foton would like a bigger slice of the fiercely competitive midsize truck market. But there is another country that aims to steal sales away from Japan and Ford: South Korea.
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Yes, you read that right, the South Koreans want to challenge the biggest names in pickup truck manufacturing, and it will be Kia that will lead the charge. Not only that, there are even some spy photos of the truck roaming around its home country, as this report from Australian motoring website Car Expert shows.
It seems like the model is already far along into development given that there have been prototypes on the road. Reports even say that the new truck will be revealed by 2025, and that the model carries the internal code TK. It also appears that the pickup will use a traditional body-on-frame chassis instead of a unibody platform.
Yes, Kia does have a ladder-frame chassis, as used in the Mohave SUV. If anything, some of the prototypes have been spotted using the Mohave as a base vehicle. That might also give us some clues regarding its powertrain options.
The Mohave uses a 3.0-liter, V6 turbodiesel engine in South Korea. It produces 256 hp and 560 Nm of torque, so it’s about on par with the six-cylinder diesel versions for the Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok. However, other engines in the Hyundai-Kia family that could be fitted to the Kia TK. One of these could be the 2.2-liter, four-cylinder turbodiesel that’s used in Sorento and Carnival. In those models, the four-pot diesel makes 192hp and 441Nm of torque.
