South Africa gets first glimpse of new Kia Tasman bakkie

Fresh from its global unveiling at the Jeddah motor show in October, Kia’s boldly styled new double-cab lifestyle bakkie was shown in South Africa this week before its sales launch here next year.

Local motorists are familiar with the Kia K2500 and K2700 single cab workhorses that have been around for several years but the Tasman, which has set tongues wagging with its unorthodox design, is the Korean brand’s first foray into the double cab leisure segment.

At a press briefing in Johannesburg on Monday, Kia SA confirmed the bakkie would go on sale about July next year to compete against the Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok.

It is too soon to verify pricing but the company provided further details about the local line-up, confirming the range would be powered by the same 2.2l turbo diesel engine found in the Kia Carnival and Sorento, producing power and torque outputs of 154kW and 441Nm. It will be paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission or six-speed manual. 

Overseas, the Tasman will also be available as a 2.5l petrol turbo with 207kW and 421Nm but Kia SA PR manager Christo Valentyn told journalists at Monday’s reveal this unit was unlikely to be offered locally. An electric version of the bakkie is also planned for further down the road.

Albrecht Grundel, Kia SA’s sales and marketing director, said the Tasman would start off as a niche product in this country with initial expected monthly sales of 30-100 units. It would be available in a three-model range of double cabs — single cabs are not on the local radar for now — including the range-topping X-Pro trim that was shown to journalists.

The X-Pro provides superior off-road performance with a raised 252mm ground clearance and 17” gloss-black wheels with all-terrain tyres.

The vehicle has standard all-wheel drive, which is optionally available on the base model. The AWD system switches automatically to provide optimum traction on different road surfaces and offers three driving modes — ECO, Smart and Sport — with various terrain modes available.

The X-Pro has additional Rock, Desert, Mud and Snow modes, and an automatically engaging rear electronic locking differential (e-LD) and X-Trek mode. The latter enables the vehicle to maintain a low speed off-road without the need for manual acceleration or braking.

To help guide the bakkie through tricky off-road turf and tight parking lots, a ground view monitor uses the cameras to project hidden obstacles on the infotainment screen

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) offer features such as lane keeping assist, blind spot collision warning and remote parking assist.

There was no opportunity to test drive the Tasman at Monday’s event but we got a close-up look and sat inside. The cabin is roomy and has a smart feel with soft-touch surfaces, ambient lighting and attractively stitched leather upholstery, with electric adjustment for the driver and passenger seats.

The infotainment and digital dashboard are combined in a panoramic screen across the dashboard, with physical controls for functions such as the climate control and 4x4 modes. The interior veers from convention with honeycomb air vents, and textured metal buttons that combine a robust feel with design pizazz.

Kia has ripped up the rule book with the bakkie’s offbeat design, love or loathe it. With its Lego-block styling and chunky black wheel arch covers, the Tasman looks like nothing else on the road and is sure to polarise opinion. One of the rear wheel arch covers houses a small storage area and the other provides access to the fuel filler cap.

A soft-opening tailgate reveals a load bed that can lug a class-leading 1,195kg of cargo in 2WD mode, in addition to a 3,500kg towing capacity.