First Kia ute could be called Tasman

Kia has filed a trademark application for the Tasman name in Australia, New Zealand, France, Uruguay and Costa Rica, and it could be the nameplate the South Korean car-maker applies to its first ute, which was recently confirmed for Australian release in 2025.

Currently under review, the first of several Tasman trademark applications were filed in April, protecting the nameplate for use by Kia for a range of motor vehicle categories including ‘automobiles’ and ‘trucks’ via a number of global patent offices.

That doesn’t guarantee the all-new dual-cab 4x4 ute will be called the Kia Tasman, but the Antipodean name would be appropriate for a model for which Kia Australia has lobbied for more than five years, and for which Australia will be a key development centre and global market.

Kia is yet to confirm the name of its first ute or comment on the trademark filings, but the Tasman name is likely inspired by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman – the first European known to have arrived in what’s now known as Tasmania and to have crossed the waters between Australia and NZ, now known as the Tasman Sea.

Late last month Kia Australia dealer sources confirmed the all-new ute will be diesel-powered and based on a new ladder-frame platform, giving Australia’s number-three auto brand a direct rival for the nation’s top-selling Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger utes for the first time.

According to Kia dealers, the all-new TK-series ute, which has been in development since 2020 and spied several times in Korea in dual-cab 4x4 pick-up form, will match its competitors with a towing capacity of 3500kg and a payload of up to 1000kg.

Rather than establish a partnership with another car-maker to develop its mid-size one-tonne pick-up – such as the jointly-developed Isuzu D-MAX and Mazda BT-50, and the Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok – the South Korean auto giant appears to be going it alone with its first ute and a Hyundai version is far from locked in.

Back in March, Kia announced that not one but two all-electric pick-ups will be among the 14 new EVs it plans to launch by 2027, including a “dedicated electric pickup truck” and a “strategic model for emerging markets”.

If the latter is indeed the 2025 Kia Tasman, Kia’s first HiLux fighter will become available with pure-electric power within two years of its local launch.

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