The Kia truck has been spied in an underground parking zone, and Tesla talks a few next-generation platform.
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Kia Pickup Spied Up Close
After bolstering its portfolio with a lot of SUVs, sedans, and hatchbacks, Kia is getting ready to enter the profitable full-size pickup phase. Unlike the corporate’s Bongo over-cab pickup, this new mannequin has world aspirations. Ahead of its reveal, a closely camouflaged prototype has been filmed up shut.
Spotted in an underground parking zone in South Korea, Kia’s workhorse had a double cab physique model hiding beneath all that disguise. Judging by the cutouts within the camo, it appeared to have a Telluride-esque entrance fascia with vertical headlights flanking a large grille. However, the 2 are unlikely to share the platform for the reason that ute is anticipated to undertake a ladder body chassis whereas the full-size SUV has a unibody building.
Believed to be known as the Kia Tasman, the pickup sat on 17-inch wheels with Kumho Crugen 265/65 R17 tires. It’s believed to be nearer in measurement to the Ford Ranger somewhat than the compact Maverick, though it is frankly arduous to inform judging by this spy video. We do get a peek inside the place you possibly can inform it is only a prototype judging by a budget trying plasticky door panels.
There is one thing attention-grabbing happening subsequent to the gear lever. We see switches for 2H, 4H, 4L modes. That means this prototype has selectable two-wheel drive and a low-range four-wheel drive for when the going will get powerful.
Australian journal Car Sales reviews a four-cylinder 2.2-liter diesel will ship energy to the wheels by means of both automated or guide transmissions. Aside from this four-door model, the Kia Tasman is allegedly going to be provided as a single cab and at the same time as a chassis cab for industrial functions. Further down the road, a purely electrical setup is claimed to hit the market.
The Tasman (codenamed “TK”) goes to be constructed at house in Korea and could possibly be formally introduced as early as this March. The design is claimed to be revealed within the fourth quarter of 2024 forward of subsequent 12 months’s market launch. An even bigger electrical Kia truck made in North America is rumored to reach earlier than the top of the last decade.
Tesla Working On Next-Gen Platform
Tesla’s fourth-quarter earnings report contains some juicy tidbits extracted from an in any other case prolonged press launch chock-full of figures. The firm is engaged on a next-generation platform it reckons will “revolutionize how vehicles are manufactured.” The purpose is to convey this new structure to the market as quickly as doable and construct EVs using this {hardware} at Gigafactory Texas.
Tesla goes on to say that it has made progress with the brand new platform however with out going into particulars. However, Reuters reviews suppliers have been knowledgeable of a brand new compact crossover codenamed “Redwood.” It’s reportedly scheduled to enter manufacturing in June 2025. The timeline would align with Elon Musk’s assertion in a post-earnings name throughout which he stated a next-gen EV would hit the meeting line in Texas from the second half of 2025.
This entry-level Tesla is deliberate with a tentative beginning value of $25,000. It would permit the corporate to raised compete with gasoline automobiles in addition to the inflow of reasonably priced Chinese EVs. Right now probably the most attainable Tesla within the United States is the Model 3, priced from $38,990 (earlier than incentives).
After beginning manufacturing in Texas in mid-2025, Tesla may additionally add a budget crossover to its upcoming Gigafactory Mexico close to Monterrey. Reuters claims a call concerning the location of a 3rd manufacturing unit the place the EV could be assembled, outdoors North America, shall be taken later this 12 months.
