Kia fails to hit Tasman sales targets

KIA Australia appears increasingly unlikely to meet the 20,000-unit, first-year sales target that it publicly set for the Tasman at the dual-cab ute’s national launch, with senior executives now pointing to a sharp uptick in competition in the pick-up segment as the primary reason for missing the goal.

When the Kia Tasman was launched nationally in July 2025, Kia Australia chief executive Damien Meredith told media including GoAuto that the ute would achieve 20,000 sales within its first 12 months on the market.

“Whatever we have in 12 months’ time, when we are together, we will be announcing that we have sold 20,000 (Tasmans), because that is the number we have to get,” said Mr Meredith at the time.

To the end of November 2025, Kia Australia has delivered 3716 examples of the Tasman locally. If that trajectory remained consistent across 12 months, Kia would notch up 11,148 sales in a year or just over half its original ambition.

The result has not otherwise dented Kia’s broader Australian sales performance in 2025, with 76,004 deliveries to the end of November up 0.7 per cent year-on-year and planners forecasting a modest full-year lift over 2024 results.

Reflecting on the Tasman’s early sales campaign, Kia Australia chief operating officer Dennis Piccoli noted that fleet deals still in the pipeline will allow the ute model’s sales curve to “hockey-stick” in 2026, indicating that the slow start will be broken with a sharp uptick as transactions hit the books.

“At the moment, we are sitting on some orders with larger fleets and there are quite a few organisations, both corporate and government, that are trialling the (Tasman), and the feedback has been quite favourable,” he said.

According to Mr Piccoli, Kia Australia is “not getting (its) fair share” of sales in the fleet-orientated part of the Tasman range, represented by S, SX and SX+ grades in cab-chassis and dual cab pick-up formats, but that is slated to change soon.

“The expectation is that in the first half of next year, you’re going to see some significant improvements, and that is where the S, SX and what-have-you will enjoy some volume lifts,” he continued.

Kia Australia is more satisfied with the performance of the premium X-Line ($70,990 driveaway) and X-Pro ($77,990 d/a) variants of the Tasman which, while being unrated by ANCAP (fleet-focussed grades carry a five-star rating), are designed to appeal to private and small business buyers.

But even the ‘X’ series Tasman variants are being given a big push in the market at present, with the South Korean importer offering a $4000 deposit contribution on those trim grades ($2000 on S, SX and SX+).

Dealers appear to be discounting undriven demonstrator examples by more than 10 per cent.

Strong competition in the ute market is nothing new but the uptick in discounting activity has been a factor in the Tasman’s modest performance, Mr Piccoli told GoAuto.

“The realities are that the segment has become far more fragmented in terms of powertrains, hybrid and diesel, and the number of brands that are in it,” he said, reflecting on “financing and price reduction” activity by “brands that … are so heavily reliant on their (ute) product.”

Indeed, brands for which ute sales represent a much larger proportion of overall Australian deliveries, such as Ford, Isuzu, and Mitsubishi, are all presently offering sharp driveaway deals on Ranger, D-Max, and Triton ute models respectively.

While it is clear Kia has higher aspirations for Tasman sales, Mr Piccoli indicated that a transformation into a brand dominated by ute or 4WD sales performance was not desirable.

“We are working through where we want to be in 2026 in totality,” he added.

“We are not the Tasman car company, nor do we want to be a Carnival car company. We want a good split of cars, and we need the right mix that makes good business sense for us.”

While Kia dealers appear to be slashing Tasman transaction prices, Kia Australia has doggedly stuck to the ute’s original national driveaway pricing.

Pressure may have been lifted on Kia Australia to deliver its original, public sales target, which GoAuto understands was closely linked to an agreement that Australia would be responsible for shifting one-third of the 60,000-strong annual Tasman output from Kia’s Hwaseong, South Korea plant.

One factor not blamed – at least not publicly by Kia Australia – is the Tasman’s unusual styling cues.

Globally, Kia is understood to have eschewed the option to finalise a Tasman design that was closer in style to the Ford Ranger, opting for a bolder look that would stand out in the market.

The 20,000 goal is still out there, however, with Mr Piccoli explaining that the milestone will likely still occur, potentially in calendar year 2026, but not as rapidly as first thought.

“It’s not a problem. Our ambition is 20,000 (but) it’s not a race. In time, it will happen,” he concluded.