Keef
Premium
- 24,971
- Dayton, OH
- GTP_KeefRacer
- GTP Keef
This is the only place I can find the new Kia pickup mentioned but it's absolutely a real thing. This image from Jan 2023 simply slaps a pickup bed on the front part of a Mohave SUV - sidebar, apparently Kia still manufactures the bones of the old Borrego but it's called the Mohave now.In addition to Hyundai, Kia seems to developing its own pickup truck. Spotted in Korea, it appears to have a more traditional pickup body style, and is based off the full-size Mohave SUV, which is not available in the US.
View attachment 1225010
New Kia Pickup Spied In Korea Wearing Mohave Bodywork | Carscoops
The ladder-frame pickup appears to be ICE-powered, coming with a dual-cab bodystyle and a hefty ground clearancewww.carscoops.com
Anyway, surprised nobody else has picked up on this. Kia is working hard on the 2025 Tasman pickup and it should be revealed later this year.
Given that the Borrego was indeed a body-on-frame SUV about the size of a modern 4Runner, the Tasman will be an adequately sized competitor to the Ranger, Tacoma, et al.
Here were some spy shots from a month ago:
We see some interesting things here and I have no idea if they're shared with the Borrego/Mohave since that truck is, what, 15 years old by now? The chassis frame rails are really high, or the truck body is mounted low on them. Most trucks in the American market have the frame rails more exposed below the body sides. We see Kia is using a welded differential housing on the rear axle like the Japanese do, while American companies have traditionally preferred bolted diff covers and axle sleeves. We see brackets for leaf springs in an era when some full-size pickups have switched to coil springs. Both the rear damper mounts and the rear trailing arms are mounted considerably higher on the axle than Toyota or others, offering excellent clearance However that can also be an indication of a lack of travel, or perhaps simply because the upper mount is higher on those lofty frame rails. The forward mounts of the rear trailing arms are tucked up high as the frame rails have already begun angling upwards - this is more like a Wrangler than a Tacoma, as Toyota tends to keep their frame rails lower for longer, forcing the trailing arm to mount to the bottom of the rail and creating a clearance hazard when off-road.
And finally a spy shot of the Tasman testing in the US recently.
@CodeRedR51 @TB could we get a name change on this thread for the entire Hyundai Santa Cruz and Kia Tasman pickup truck saga?
Last edited: