First Kia ute to undergo chassis tuning here in 2021

It's no secret that both Kia and its Korean sister brand Hyundai have been lobbying hard for a ute to compete against the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux in Australia.

But what has been unclear is exactly what form they will take and when they will arrive Down Under. While the latter remains somewhat fluid, we now know both the Hyundai and Kia utes will be available in a full range of single-cab and dual-cab body styles with both diesel and petrol power.

Kia Australia confirmed as early as 2016 that it will introduce its own version of the Hyundai pick-up, then in 2018 said it will arrive as a proper HiLux rival as soon as 2021, and later that year said it would delayed until 2023.

Most recently in March this year Kia Australia COO Damien Meredith told carsales it could arrive here as soon as 2021 "if we're lucky" and that, while the all-new Kia Seltos small SUV would push the brand's annual sales to 80,000, Kia's first ute will bring the total to 100,000. Kia Australia is on track to sell 60,000 vehicles this year, without a ute or small SUV.

Kia will have to find other countries in which to sell the new ute to make the vehicle profitable, but Australia is one of the world's top three pick markets and will be a key destination, so it's no surprise that a Kia ute is not a question of 'if' but 'when' Down Under.

Speaking to a small group of Australian journalists at the Seltos launch in Korea this week, Meredith made it clear the business plan for Kia's first ute was coming together.

"When a light commercial range does arrive in Australia I'd be pretty confident that... about 220,000 [utes are sold in Australia] a year, so we'd be looking around that eight per cent, 10 per cent market share in that range."

When pressed on the progress and make-up of the Kia ute's development, Meredith said that estimates of a 2022 launch were "pretty close" and that a full range will be offered.

"Work has begun. We're talking about a pick-up, dual-cab, single-cab. What we've requested is the full gambit of a ute, diesel and petrol."

Given that Kia and Hyundai usually require around 12 months of lead time to get the chassis of their models fit for Aussie conditions, that could see the Kia (and Hyundai) ute on Aussie soil as early as 2021.

"It's [Australian chassis development] normally eight to 12 months out, so it won't be happening in the next year or so," Meredith said, adding that local suspension and steering mods were a core part of the brand's "robust" strategy in Australia.

"We get every car that comes to Australia to go through that [suspension overhaul] process."

The Australian arms of Kia and Hyundai have been lobbying their Korean bosses to develop a rival for the HiLux -- Australia's top-selling vehicle -- for around a decade now and Meredith said he is confident Kia's ute will steal customers from other brands with a strong value and after-sales offer.

"We'd be confident with great product, great pricing and also a seven-year warranty. So it's a pretty powerful package I think," he said.

The biggest challenge for the brand could be getting it into Aussie showrooms before its mechanical twin from Hyundai.

"We'd hope we were first, but it doesn’t really matter -- it'll be close," said Meredith.

While both Korean utes will share the same platform, it remains to be seen if there will be features unique to each ute, and whether Hyundai goes down a more 'lifestyle' path while Kia makes a pitch as a one-tonne workhorse.

Thus far the only ute revealed by the Hyundai group is Santa Cruz dual-cab crossover concept, which is based not on a rugged ladder frame but the monocoque chassis of the Tucson medium SUV.

The US-designed 'lifestyle' ute disappointed Hyundai's Aussie execs when it was revealed in 2015 and was promptly ruled out for Australia, where Hyundai and Kia continued to lobby for a 'proper' ute to compete with established rivals in the nation's largest sales segment.