'Have faith': Not sold on the 2025 Kia Tasman's looks or diesel engine? Why Kia says you'll still buy one over a Ford Ranger or Toyota HiLux

It's fair to say reaction has been mixed to the new Kia Tasman, with the brand's first ute combining a unique exterior design with diesel engine outputs that sit somewhere around the middle of the dual-cab pack.

But the reaction hasn't dampened Kia's sales aspirations, with the brand still hoping to capture around 10 per cent of Australia's ute market in its first full year on sale, which would be somewhere between 20,000 and 25,000 units.

That result would make the Tasman the fourth most popular ute in the country, ahead of models like the Nissan Navara, Mitsubishi Triton, Mazda BT-50, and trailing only the Isuzu D-Max, Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux.

The reason, says the Kia Australian executive team, is a combination of the Tasman being a product that has to be driven to be appreciated and a Kia corporate machine behind it that knows how to drive sales.

"We have great faith in the product, and secondly, we believe that what Kia delivers as a brand will help us get to that 10 per cent share of a very competitive ute segment," says Kia Australia's CEO, Damien Meredith.

"There’s the other aspects of what the Kia brand is about – our dealer network, our customer base and out ability to market in a strong manner, which we’ve been able to do.

2025 Kia Tasman

"Historically, over a decade, we’ve grown from 28,000 [sales] to over 82,000. that’s not luck — that’s great product a great dealer network, great marketing and it’s all those things combined together.

"We believe we’ve got that with the Tasman and that’s how we'll continue to succeed and grow the brand in Australia."

The Tasman arrives packing the brand’s existing turbo-diesel engine – the same used in the Carnival, amongst others.

2025 Kia Tasman

That means a 2.2-litre diesel that produces 154kW and 441Nm paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission, with power sent to two or all four wheels. That’s enough to push the Tasman to 100km/h in a leisurely 10.4 seconds and on to a top speed of 185km/h.

But those, says Kia's product chief, Roland Rivero, are just numbers on a page.

"We understand numbers on paper, they mean something and they have an influencing factor, but we can't wait for you to drive it," he says.