Kia Tasman launches in New Zealand
Kia’s Tasman has arrived in the country, and is ready to rip into the ute segment. We recently had a brief experience of it off road, where it proved capable, showing off its rough road credentials. It was all low speed stuff, rumbling around in low range and trying out the X Trek low speed crawl control. So still no verdict on how this truck drives on road in New Zealand just yet. That will come soon however.
Video review – Kia Tasman first drive: Ready for the rough stuff?
We spoke with Kia NZ MD, Todd McDonald, about how hard it is to launch a new ute into a market segment the brand has no prior history in.
“I don’t think it’s difficult to launch Tasman here, because the market is well established already. It’s more a case of how do we launch a vehicle that is uniquely Kia and create a point of differentiation from both our other products, and those of our competitors.”
He sees being the new challenger as a huge opportunity.
Read more – Local pricing announced for Kia Tasman ute
“Tasman is great from a brand perspective, but also for our dealer network. It provides them with more opportunities and is a welcome addition.”
McDonald admits there is a bit of a learning curve for some dealers that have never sold a ute before however. “Our pre-launch activity has been about getting them involved and understanding what the market is and how to meet the consumer requirements.”
In terms of those opportunities, McDonald says Tasman hits all parts of the market. “Our range is targeted at volume. Everything from our base model TX all the way through to X line is specific and targeted. We have double cab chassis and simple cab chassis coming, which are also targeted at specific customers within New Zealand.
“Next year our target would be to hit the top five in New Zealand for commercials in our first full year of sales.”
Kia is launching with a range of New Zealand designed and built accessories for Tasman. “I think we’re up to 149 options for our New Zealand customers. Most of these are made here, which is quite important to us for New Zealand business and for our competitiveness within the market.”
According to McDonald he says the response from dealers and customers alike has been one of ‘overwhelming enthusiasm’ towards the new ute.
Asked to describe the Tasman’s styling, McDonald says it’s ‘fresh, modern, new generational.”
As to the comments online that people either love or loathe it, he says; “Give it a year. I think this kind of styling will become quite mainstream. We’ve seen a lot of other manufacturers moving towards the US-style body shape. I think that’s where the direction of the ute is going. I think you might see traditional brands also moving towards that same style.”
