A couple of years ago, Kia Australia revealed that it was working on a dual-cab pickup for the local market that would be positioned as a rival to the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger. However, it now appears as though the pickup won’t become a reality as soon as originally expected, if at all.
The truck was originally expected to launch in 2022 but during a recent interview with Cars Guide, Kia Australia chief operating officer Damien Meredith admitted that he doesn’t know what the South Korean automaker’s current plans for the vehicle are.
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“We still haven’t got a clear direction on what’s going to happen with LCV (light commercial vehicle), that’s the honest truth,” Meredith said. “We would hope that in the next couple of years that something does occur with LCV for our brand, not just for Australia but globally. The good thing is that if it does occur then I think we’ll have a lot of ownership on it because we’re [Australia] a big market. 2022 is… unless they’re hiding things from us, it’s not going to happen.”
Meredith believes the dual-cab pickup from Kia could sell 20,000 units annually, accounting for 10 per cent of all LCV sales in the market. To achieve such sales figures, the Kia would have to outsell the Isuzu D-Max, Mitsubishi Triton, and Nissan Navara, and would only trail the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger.
Kia Australia has previously acknowledged that it would aim to sell the pickup as a dual-cab and a single-cab, with various diesel and petrol options. The vehicle wouldn’t steal sales away from the Hyundai Santa Cruz which has been positioned as a smaller ‘lifestyle’ pickup.
