2025 Kia Tasman rendered & spied with Ford Ranger Raptor

Spied in winter testing this week at a facility in Sweden, the Tasman was caught alongside the new Ford Ranger Raptor – which could offer a clue as to what sort of power this particular Tasman is packing.

Kia has access to a similarly brutish unit, in the Hyundai group's 279kW/530Nm 3.5-litre turbo V6 – with the sorts of figures that could comfortably dialled up if a bit of brochure boasting is desired.

Whatever it's hiding under that big square bonnet, these photos offer a first clear look at how the Tasman will measure up to the Ranger in exterior dimensions.

Indeed, that long rear overhang evokes thoughts of the Jeep Gladiator, although the American truck has a much longer wheelbase than any regular dual-cab ute. (3487mm to the Ranger's 3226mm.)

Based on these photos, and earlier images captured by a Korean YouTube channel, we tapped our friend Theottle to produce some speculative renderings of how the Tasman might look in its finished form.

News

In one of the most protracted development processes we can remember, Kia’s ute is finally happening – and it's locked in for Australia

Unfortunately, the pictured render won’t be the ute’s final form: “it’s not uncommon in any kind of prototype testing – particularly when you’re only currently working on chassis, for instance – to borrow panels from another car just to disguise it," he said.

Like punters and journalists, Kia’s Australian arm is keen for more info: “I think for [Kia], if there was a vehicle in development, an announcement would be appreciated sooner rather than later”, Rivero continued.

“Because you've got to develop a dealer network. Some dealer showrooms might only have the size to cater for passenger cars or SUVs, so adding this [ute] to the lineup would actually mean investment and infrastructure.

“So I think you’ve got to give a dealer network time to do that – you can't expect dealers’ to turn around in two months – so ideally something of an announcement, if there was going to be one, is made sooner rather than later if [the vehicle] was already in chassis development mode,” Rivero said.

With a light commercial vehicle to rival the likes of Ranger, HiLux, Triton and D-Max, Kia Australia