Positive response to the off-road Tasman Weekender concept could prompt Kia to get it into showrooms "a little bit faster, a little bit earlier," a top executive has revealed.
The off-road-ready Kia Tasman Weekender concept could be accelerated into production amid criticism of the standard dual-cab, which the boss of the South Korean giant in Australia has dismissed as 'angst'.
The Weekender was revealed in April with tougher styling than the regular Tasman, as well as, crucially, a revised front fascia with a slimmer upper grille and chunkier lower bumper.
It was pitched on debut as strictly a design study, but it appears more positive reception to the show car than the real deal could hurry its new face into showrooms.
"For the Weekender, actually, from the design part, they think about the design for the future," Dong Hoon Kang, Kia's Vice President of Mid-Large Sized Vehicle Chassis Engineering Design Centre, exclusively told Drive at the Tasman's Australian launch earlier this year.
"But after they make the Weekender design, then it looks good, actually. They [head office] want to make [it] a little bit faster, a little bit earlier. Now we are considering about that."
Interestingly, moments before making the above comments, the South Korean executive appeared to pour cold water on the notion Kia is already working to facelift the Tasman.
"We don't think to change the exterior right now because we are waiting for the feedback from the market. And then maybe there is negative feedback, then we can consider that, but not right now," Kang told Drive.
It suggests the Weekender styling may not immediately replace the original appearance launched earlier this year, but could come in the form of a styling pack or new model grade.
Kia has ruled out a high-performance Tasman with twin-turbo petrol V6 power due to tough emissions regulations.
Even an off-road hero above today's X-Pro – with the same 2.2-litre turbo-diesel engine, but upgraded suspension, wheels and tyres – has struggled to get off the ground due to low interest from Kia distributors outside of Australia.
Kang said the Weekender is "not an easy thing" to send into production, and is more than a quick engineering job behind the scenes.
"We need to increase the ride height, and we need to put a lot of the exterior things, so it's not easy.
"Now we are reviewing, how can we make the model? We need to think about a lot of things, about the off-road performance, engine performance, and so on."
A styling update for the Tasman is likely to be much appreciated by Kia Australia, given its first three months in showrooms have returned half the sales it needs to remain on track for a target of 10,000 deliveries by year's end.
The X-Line variant has already been discounted by up to $6791 as part of a 'Sports Pack', lowering the price from $70,990 to $67,990 drive-away, but throwing in a sports bar, side steps, tonneau cover, and metallic paint for free.
The boss of the South Korean car brand in Australia told media at the Tasman's launch earlier this year that he believes the negative feedback around the design since the ute's reveal last year is dissipating.
"I think road presence will dilute the angst regarding how it looks," said Kia Australia CEO Damien Meredith.
Asked to clarify his description of the commentary as 'angst,' Meredith said: "Oh, that's a fact. You're spot on. But we've seen the dial change to 'well, I've seen it in the flesh now. It's actually not too bad.'
"So the – let's call it angst again – initial aspect when we first launched in the Middle East and Hobart simultaneously [in October 2024], I think that's diluted dramatically since then."
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
