There’s little doubt now that Kia Tasman will be the name of the Korean carmaker’s new midsize pickup that will go up against the likes of the Ford Ranger, the Toyota Hilux, and the Mitsubishi Triton.
The name is seen or referenced several times in Kia Australia’s teaser video that stars 20 Aussie sports personalities arguing about what the truck should be called—and each suggestion is a play on an athlete’s name. ‘Kia Ute Set for Australia’ is the title of the article in a newspaper unfurled at the beginning of the ad, and you can just make out the words ‘The Tasman’ in the story.
Watch: Kia Tasman teaser video
Other not-so-subtle hints include a dart landing on the Tasman Sea on a map as well as a portrait of Abel Tasman, the Dutch explorer after whom said body of water and the island of Tasmania were named.
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The strongest giveaway, of course, was when Kia trademarked the Tasman name last year. Internally, the model code for the truck is TK. It has also been spotted several times being tested in the wild or just sitting quietly in an underground car park in South Korea.
So far, only heavily camouflaged test mules of the Tasman have been seen. But aside from the new teaser, the upcoming truck—or at least its silhouette—is already in the vehicle lineup on Kia Australia’s website, so it shouldn’t be long now before we get a full look at this new midsize-pickup contender.
