Kia Australia's Chief Operating Officer, Damien Meredith told CarsGuide that work is under way for a Kia and Hyundai dual cab pickup truck. Both trucks are expected to arrive sometime in 2022 or 2023.
If this expands outside of Australia would you consider a Kia pickup?
If this expands outside of Australia would you consider a Kia pickup?
In good news for both brands, the vehicle in question is not a "lifestyle vehicle", like the Hyundai Santa Cruz (pictured), but a fully fledged ute family that will take the fight to the heavy hitters of the dual-cab space.
"Work has begun," says Meredith. "We're talking about a dual-cab, a single-cab - what we've requested is the full gambit for the ute, and that (includes) a dual-cab with diesel and petrol (options)."
While details are thin on the ground for now, Kia in Australia has talked before about its incoming ute family, insisting the platform would be "brand new".
And Aussie executives are bullish about its chances, confident they can capture a sizeable chunk of the Australian dual-cab market.
"When a light commercial range does arrive in Australia, I'd be confident we'd be looking around that eight to 10 per cent market share in that range," Meredith says. "Great product, great pricing and a seven-year warranty - it's a pretty powerful package."
With Australia's ute market responsible for some 210,000 sales in 2018, that would see Kia secure some 21,000 new customers with the launch of a genuine workhorse family.
In even happier news, the localisation process all Kia and Hyundai vehicles undergo before launching in Australia will apply to the new ute, too, with Meredith confirming a local suspension tuning process would take place ahead of the vehicle's launch.
"That's part of our robust strategy - every car that enters Australia goes through that process," he says.