The brand had promised to introduce the model in 2022, however priorities seem to have changed since then. Right now, the future of the idea looks uncertain.
The growing interest in pick-ups It seems not enough to get Kia to step on the gas. Despite the increasingly wide offer of vehicles of this type, the South Korean house started this week confessing that, although it has plans to create its own, it will still take time to arrive.
It is worth remembering that the idea of a truck with a plate and the logo of the three letters has been around for at least a year, when Kia Australia started talking about the possibility to build a double cab model to stand up to the Ford Ranger and the Toyota Hilux.
Despite this, and the enthusiasm that the idea caused at the time, the head of the brand’s operations in that country, Damien MeredithHe noted during an interview that the future of the possible car remains uncertain at the moment.
The official voice
According to the executive told the Cars Guide portal, at least in Australia they still do not know what the brand’s intentions are for what would be the first Kia pick-up, which implies that the car will not arrive in 2022 as initially planned, it may not even reach production.
“To be completely honest, we still do not have a clear direction of what is going to happen with light commercial vehicles (LCVs), ”Meredith said, adding that they hope to have a clearer idea sometime soon.
“We hope that in the next couple of years something will happen in the LCV division of our brand, not just in Australia but globally. The good thing is that if it happens, I think we will have a lot of prominence in the matter, because we have a very large market for it, “he said, referring, of course, to Australia.
High expectations
According to the chief operating officer, a Kia pick-up could sell 20,000 units a year in Australia alone. That would represent 10 percent of the local market for that segment, which would place it in third place in the segment, if it is presented in a double cabin as planned.
It would also be a car a lot rougher and more capable than the Hyundai Santa Cruz, warned the spokesmen of the brand in that country, noting that the option of a single cabin is not ruled out, as well as several diesel and gasoline engines.
It is worth noting, however, that Kia is currently advancing an ambitious electrification planSo it is not surprising that other thermal-focused strategies are on hiatus, rethinking, or totally discarded. Hence, Meredith pointed out that “it is not going to happen in 2022, unless they are hiding something from us.”
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