The Tasman is long-awaited. Australia’s love affair with the humble ute set in motion a series of unavoidable events leading to the inevitable: If KIA wants a crack at the top spot, it needs a ute. After years of denial, the Tasman is about to come out of the closet.

Tasman is the global name for the brand’s pickup truck, a name with links to Australia and New Zealand. Kia’s latest teaser is for its upcoming documentary series, ‘One More Round’, an in-depth look at the Tasman ute’s development process.

This will be KIA’s first ute and the PR and marketing teams have been hard at it, whipping up interest in a car that is sure to find its way to the “top ten” provided the Korean car maker can keep up with demand. KIA’s Tasman comes well after the appearance of Chinese nameplates being marketed in the entry arena where KIA and Hyundai once stood. Pundits will watch on with interest.

Tasman is KIA’s most important model since the company reinvented itself, transforming from a cheap and cheerful runabout-maker into a brand of choice. Of the top ten models, only Toyota Coroalla stands as the only passenger model. There are 3 utes, with Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux swapping the top spot between them.

ABOVE: KIA Tasman Ute Teaser

The series ventures into the hostile terrain of the Australian wilderness where testing and development was conducted. Like the Japanese utes that dominate the Top Ten, Tasman will need to be able to go anywhere even if it only ever sees city service.

‘One More Round’ will take viewers behind the scenes of the Kia Tasman’s exhaustive program of more than 18,000 rounds of testing, highlighting the ute’s comprehensive capabilities and rugged reliability.

The first episode on July 22 is all about the off-road testing. Future episodes show off the deep-water wading, all-terrain durability and towing trials, plus on-track performance, ride and handling. Later, there will be interviews with the research and development team, with episodes dropping from July through October.

The series’ title ‘One More Round’ heralds KIA’s 1,777 individual tests over more than 18,000 rounds of evaluation. As with the other models in the brand’s portfolio, Kia’s engineers have shown they are committed to the highest standards and that includes the Tasman.

“The Kia Tasman represents our unwavering dedication to innovation. Every aspect of our R&D Division’s capability has been channelled into creating a vehicle that not only lives up to its title as the first of its kind, but also delivers performance that surpasses expectations,” said Heui Won Yang, President of the Kia R&D Division.

The teaser and upcoming episodes of ‘One More Round’ can be viewed on Kia’s official YouTube channel.

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