We drive a new pick-up truck from...Kia

Forbidden fruit in the car industry comes in all shapes and sizes. The latest model denied to the UK is the Kia Tasman, the brand’s first-ever pick-up truck.

While it’d be easy to ignore such a development given the Tasman is not only denied for UK buyers, but those in Europe and even the US, too, it is significant in showing how the brand is continuing to develop and enter new markets and model segments. Later this year, for example, Kia will launch its first-ever van, the PV5.

In short, Kia is a brand willing and able to try new things and the Tasman is a fantastic piece of product design. If you look around the Tasman’s rivals - the likes of the Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux and Nissan Navara - you’d think there wasn’t much you can do to make an everyday pick-up visually interesting before you start making them performance machines like the Ford Ranger Raptor.

Yet the Tasman would be the pick-up your eyes are drawn to lined up against its peers, looking stealthy in the black of our test car and like it means business.

Of course, a pick-up is no good if it’s all show and no go but Kia has packed the spec sheet, too. Kia claims true go-anywhere ability, a claim we weren’t able to test, and best-in-class strength from an all-new body-on-frame pick-up platform developed for the Tasman.

There is double-wishbone suspension up front, high mounted to better protect from corrosion and offer improved ground clearance. At the rear is a rigid axle with leaf springs.

The Tasman has switchable high and low-speed four-wheel drive as well as an automatic four-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive modes. An electric locking differential is in charge or torque distribution on uneven surfaces and there are several different terrain modes to suit the surfaces being driven on, including a dedicated ‘Desert’ mode for Middle East and Africa-spec Tasmans.

Four-cylinder engine options include a 277bhp/311lb ft 2.5-litre petrol and a 207bhp/325lb ft 2.2-litre diesel depending on the market. An eight-speed automatic is offered on both engines and a six-speed manual is also available on the diesel. We tested the petrol and it had plenty of torque and a nice relaxed style. 

Other key parts of the powertrain and exhaust are also mounted high to help with the wading depth of 800mm. The respective approach, departure and ramp-over angles are 33.2, 26.2 and 25.8 degrees while the payload is 1151kg (including cabin loads) and towing capacity 3500kg. Kia claims the bed has a best-in-class capacity of 1212 litres.