Unless you've been away with business on a remote planet like Mars, you probably already know that Kia is preparing an all-new (mid-size) pickup truck for global markets. The ardent question is simple – will it come to the United States?
Over in America, the South Korean automaker has shared a lot of novelties during recent times – the all-electric EV9 is already out and about, an entire Sorento family-oriented lineup of big crossover SUVs is coming, there's also the styling-related Carnival MPV, plus a couple of passenger cars – the refreshed K5 and all-new K4 (formerly known as the Forte).
However, unlike Hyundai, which at least has the Santa Cruz unibody compact pickup truck, Kia doesn't sell any workhorses in North America. Maybe it's time to rectify that – although nobody can tell for sure, at least for the time being, if the all-new first-ever Tasman will be that pickup truck that dares to challenge the Toyota Tacoma, Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon, Ford Ranger, Jeep Gladiator, Nissan Frontier, and Honda Ridgeline for the mid-size pickup truck crown.
For now, all we have are countless spies, renderings, and teasers of the Tasman – which is shaping up to be a tough pickup truck that can withstand just about anything. Kia at least gave us a first glimpse of its design – all dressed up in a very colorful camouflage. Since there are few secrets of the exterior design left untold – we can easily see the Telluride-inspired headlights and quirky details like the big, straight plastic over-fenders – the imaginative realm of digital car content creators has decided to step up its CGI game to the next level.
More precisely, digital creator NYMammoth loves both New York City and South Korea, which is why many of his virtual creations focus on the American lineup of Kia and Hyundai. Not this time around, though, as the pixel master decided to work on the global Tasman once again. He previously envisioned the upcoming pickup truck without camouflage based on the most recent spies and teasers. But now he's thinking about something else – could Kia turn the Tasman into a family of models and also bring one of them to America?
As such, the CGI expert's latest design project concerns a what-if type of scenario where Kia turns the rugged and truck-tough Tasman mid-sizer into an off-road SUV capable of taking on two of the market's greatest models – the best-selling Jeep Wrangler and the slower-selling Ford Bronco. We get through the behind-the-scenes making-of process in the video embedded below and the author also gives us plenty of choice with different shades of his CGI creation and a quick comparison with the Wrangler and Bronco SUVs.
Interestingly, at the very end of the video feature there's also one last "fun idea" focusing on the hypothetical Kia Tasman SUV – a veritable overlander packing all the off-road goodies needed during an OEM-style adventure, including large all-terrain tires and small beadlock-capable wheels, a different bumper setting with enough steel to survive an apocalypse, modified suspension, additional lights, plus the customary roof rack with a pop-up tent. For sure, that also makes it worthy of an unofficial confrontation with the 2025 Toyota 4Runner Trailhunter, not just the mighty Wrangler and the retro-styled Bronco, right?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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