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We already know Australians love a dual-cab ute. The likes of the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux are constantly battling for the top rung on the new-car sales ladder.
So when Kia announced it would launch new ute Down Under, the news was met with a mix of excitement and curiosity.
From the outside, it seemed like the global carmaking giant was building the Tasman ute with Australia solely in mind, but of course other markets like the Middle East, South Africa, South America and parts of Asia will do a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to sales volume.
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However, a snippet from the 2025 Kia CEO Investor Day gave away just how much pressure is on Australia when it comes to the Tasman’s sales success.
“The brand’s first pickup truck, the Tasman, will launch in Korea, Australia and emerging markets, with an annual sales target of 80,000 units and a six percent market share.”
That doesn’t sound like a lot globally, but consider this: Kia Australia is aiming to sell about 20,000 Kia Tasmans annually.
Australia is a ute-mad market, but it’s also one of the smallest developed new-car markets and one of the most competitive in the world.
Kia Australia taking on the responsibility of a quarter of the Tasman’s global sales is an incredible undertaking, especially for a new, unestablished model. Not to mention one that’s surrounded in some divisive discourse regarding its design.
To put the ‘Australia vs the world’ sales split into perspective, let’s look at the nation’s favourite utes, the Toyota HiLux and the Ford Ranger.
The HiLux, one of history’s most enduring workhorses, sells in extremely healthy numbers here. Last year Toyota shifted more than 53,000, the year before it was more than 61,000.
Globally, Toyota sells somewhere in the vicinity of half a million HiLux units, making Australia’s sales only a tenth of the world’s total.
The Ranger is a similar story, with a little more than 60,000 sold annually in the last couple of years. Globally it still sells in the hundreds of thousands - last year it approached 340,000.
For Kia Australia, the Tasman is extremely important. This year the brand is looking to sell about 90,000 new cars, and 10,000 should be Tasmans if all goes to plan.
If Kia starts approaching 100,000 sales in Australia soon, about a fifth should be Tasmans.
But for Tasman, Australia is crucial. It’s hard to predict whether it will work out as the brand hopes, but Kia Australia says it has more than 20,000 expressions of interest.
Kia Australia Chief Executive Damien Meredith told CarsGuide the launch of the Tasman’s and its first six months of sales are “a critical element for the back half of the year [2025]”.
The Australian ute market is already rather busy, and new rivals like the JAC T9 from China will put the pressure on. More are coming too, like the Foton Tunland and MG U9, which will likely come with competitive pricing and features.
Kia Australia certainly won’t be taking the Tasman’s sales performance lightly, and nor should it.
