The Thailand Special Thread - New Developments/News

[au2000]

Might be … I guess the price point will be a real test though seeing this thing is petrol and not diesel.

[whynot]

Originally Posted by kevino

An early review on carexpert.com.au
Rated actual fuel use as 12 litres per 100kms
So what’s the point of hybrid in this

I think that fuel figure might be a bit misleading. I assume Car Expert got that consumption driving with a flat main battery and driving it in pure hybrid mode.

However, the battery itself is sized at 30 kWh and will give around 100 km range on battery. Assuming the car is charged up overnight, then it is conceivable that a typical tradie's commute would be within that 100 km of battery range.

Where it comes into its own is for a person towing a van (granted at 2.5t not a particularly big van). That 30 kWh battery will power a whole lot of creature comforts overnight.

For government and commercial fleets, the attractiveness of the vehicle is; A) the illusion of being green and caring for the environment, B) being able to recharge the ute while it is sitting in the yard overnight, C) and being able to fall back to liquid fuels.

For governments, whether it has more or less running costs is immaterial as they are spending your tax dollars.

[Franco Cozzo]

BYD Shark review:



I don't like the way the reviewer puts over the top emotion into how he talks but you get that on the big jobs,

The digital displays being 'stuck on' the dash is a bit gay I reckon, looks very slapped on,

If this thing steers and handles like shit, wonder if the locals will step up to the plate like shockworks and offer a steering/suspension package that makes it way better.

He mentions a bit about NMC batteries, which this thing doesn't have, but this also makes me laugh:



'I'm a bit reluctant to bend it about'

Immediately starts bending about in hands

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by whynot

However, the battery itself is sized at 30 kWh and will give around 100 km range on battery. Assuming the car is charged up overnight, then it is conceivable that a typical tradie's commute would be within that 100 km of battery range.

If the qualified electricians at my work are anything to go by they all have a sook when they have to drive more than 15 minutes away from home, so 100km should cover 6 months worth of driving in Melbourne

Their tools consist of a 6ft fibreglass ladder and a louis vuitton handbag with some basic hand tools in it.

Average kilometres travelled

Average kilometres travelled was 12.1 thousand kilometres for all vehicles

Northern Territory vehicles had the highest average kilometres travelled (12.5 thousand kilometres),

followed by Victoria (12.4 thousand kilometres)

Vehicles registered in Tasmania reported the lowest average kilometres (10.9 thousand kilometres)

https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/in...latest-release

Means the average Victorian drives 33km/day, at 100km of range they get three days worth of fuel-free running in perfect conditions.

[whynot]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Their tools consist of a 6ft fibreglass ladder and a louis vuitton handbag with some basic hand tools in it.

And given their current wages, they can afford to suffer driving around in a Chinese EV during the day as a promotional tool to flog off more solar PV and EV charging. (They certainly have no troubles flogging off Chinese made solar PV inverters and panels without a care in the world.)

And then at the weekends, swap over to a RAM 1500 TRX / F‑150 LARIAT ...

[Sprintey]

The coupe-utility strikes back:

https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-new...-cruz-and-ford

"But a new bruhaha, in a slightly different theatre of war, is brewing over the next few years as a slew of smaller, lighter, more-efficient and – most importantly – less expensive dual-cab utes land on our shores.

Announcing the coupe-utility coup, brought to you by Hyundai, Ford… and probably everybody else over time, even Honda!

All of these new wave of utes systematically abandon the heavy and bulky body-on-frame construction — used by the HiLux, Ranger, Isuzu D-Max, Mitsubishi Triton and the like — for monocoque construction from existing SUV platforms as a base."

Yay! Imagine if one of them gets something like independent rear suspension...

[whynot]

Originally Posted by Sprintey

All of these new wave of utes systematically abandon the heavy and bulky body-on-frame construction

And some say that history never repeats, hey?

I think the biggest drawback to Australian market acceptance is the towing capacity. The standard Ford Maverick with 2.0l ecoboost or PHEV can only tow 2000 pounds (900 kg), and with the 4K towing pack and AWD it can pull 4000 pounds.

With the Santa Cruz properly configured able to tow 5000 pounds (2200kg).

Both are less than what a Ford Falcon could pull.

I am sure there are niches in the market that they can fill. It would be interesting to see what the sale price would be.

[prydey]

Originally Posted by whynot

And some say that history never repeats, hey?

I think the biggest drawback to Australian market acceptance is the towing capacity. The standard Ford Maverick with 2.0l ecoboost or PHEV can only tow 2000 pounds (900 kg), and with the 4K towing pack and AWD it can pull 4000 pounds.

With the Santa Cruz properly configured able to tow 5000 pounds (2200kg).

Both are less than what a Ford Falcon could pull.

I am sure there are niches in the market that they can fill. It would be interesting to see what the sale price would be.

A good chance payload would also be reduced.

I struggle to see how they could make any impact in Australia

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by whynot

And some say that history never repeats, hey?

I think the biggest drawback to Australian market acceptance is the towing capacity. The standard Ford Maverick with 2.0l ecoboost or PHEV can only tow 2000 pounds (900 kg), and with the 4K towing pack and AWD it can pull 4000 pounds.

With the Santa Cruz properly configured able to tow 5000 pounds (2200kg).

Both are less than what a Ford Falcon could pull.

I am sure there are niches in the market that they can fill. It would be interesting to see what the sale price would be.

While we look at those figures as lame,

Would suit the suburban apartment/city dweller who appreciates a vehicle that they can do the odd bunnings run in but it still drives nicely in 99% of its use going to work and doing things like going to the beach, but it doesn't have the turning circle of the Costa Concordia or a rattly diesel engine that sounds like a school bus, expensive to service, and your hands get covered in diesel when you touch the pump and you need to fill it with that adblue stuff.

I like the idea of the Maverick, it crosses over with the RAV4 buyer who tends to be a 30-something suburban/apartment dwelling millennial, its based on the Focus platform, so its going to stop/steer and go very nicely.

Think of the Parkrun brigade, they'd be keen on this.

Look at all the marketing photos on the Maverick,

https://www.ford.com/trucks/maverick/

What do you see?

Now look at the Ranger marketing photos:

https://www.ford.com/trucks/ranger/2...der-trucks-vhp

Whats the glaring difference in how both these vehicles are marketed? They're both utes, but one fits a very different demographic to 'Thailand Specials', the Maverick would be uniquely placed in our market.

I'm in Princes Hill in Melbourne every Thursday, which is a 0.4km2 very affluent and bougie suburb in inner Melbourne, thats 3km north of Melbourne CBD:

https://www.realestate.com.au/proper...hill-145291264

As I'm driving around the park every Thursday morning, I see a few hundred people in activewear bouncing around and jogging about the place - they're the Ford Maverick customer.

[whynot]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

As I'm driving around the park every Thursday morning, I see a few hundred people in activewear bouncing around and jogging about the place - they're the Ford Maverick customer.

Well, I will have to tip my hat to your expert knowledge. My wife wouldn't let me sit at that park to conduct that type of market research.

Still, I don't think a ute with a unibody construction would get customer acceptance in the Australian market. Look at Toyota. They salami slice the market to the nth degree, and their utes are body on frame.

[naddis01]

Geez, the Tasman has a face only a mother could love...

https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-new...x-ranger-rival





2025 Kia Tasman revealed: Everything you need to know about the new HiLux, Ranger rival
The body-on-frame Kia Tasman ute is coming to Australia with a 154kW/441Nm turbo-diesel four, rear leaf springs, and 3500kg of braked towing capacity.

William Stopford

29 October 2024, 6:30pm

The Kia Tasman has made its world debut – simultaneously at the Jeddah motor show in Saudi Arabia and in Hobart, Tasmania – giving us our first full look at the Korean brand’s first rival for the top-selling Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger.

Kia says it’ll launch the Tasman in its domestic market during the first half of 2025, before subsequently introducing it in regions like Australia, Africa and the Middle East.

While it looks more like a Jeep Gladiator than its more traditional rivals thanks to a boxy design and chunky fender flares, it more closely resembles the likes of the HiLux and Ranger on its spec sheet.


Kia has only revealed dual-cab pickup and cab-chassis variants of the Tasman thus far, but says it will offer single-cab configurations further down the line.

The company will offer the Tasman in base, X-Line and X-Pro variants, though local pricing and specifications won’t be announced until closer to its local launch.

Drivetrains
The Kia Tasman will be produced with two engines: one petrol and one diesel, though only the latter – referred to as the Diesel New R – is earmarked for Australia.

Diesel Petrol
Engine 2.2L turbo-diesel 4cyl 2.5L turbo-petrol 4cyl
Power 154kW 207kW
Torque 441Nm 421Nm
Transmission 6-speed manual or 8-speed auto 8-speed auto
0-100km/h 10.4s 8.5s
Fuel economy (target) 7.6L/100km 12.5L/100km
While that power figure stacks up well alongside the four-cylinder Ford Ranger BiTurbo (154kW) and Toyota HiLux (150kW), the torque figure falls below those popular utes (500Nm each) as well as the 3.0-litre Isuzu D-Max and Mazda BT-50 (450Nm), and the Mitsubishi Triton (470Nm).

It’ll match all of those for towing, however, with a braked tow capacity of 3500kg.

Chassis and Capability
The Tasman features double-wishbone front suspension but a live rear axle with leaf springs, again like much of its competition.

Front and rear suspension feature Kia’s frequency selective Sensitive Damper Control (SDC) and Hydraulic Rebound Stop technology, aimed at reducing vibration; Kia also says the vertically mounted shock absorbers ensure more effective damping and ride control.

Kia says the four-wheel drive system “switches automatically to the configuration required to provide optimum traction”. It can be toggled between 2H, 4A, 4H and 4L modes.

Unlike the base Tasman, the X-Line and X-Pro will come standard with four-wheel drive with selectable Eco, Smart, Sand, Mud, Snow and (in the X-Pro) Rock modes; in the Middle East and Africa there’s also a specific Desert drive mode.

The X-Pro has 252mm of ground clearance, up 28mm on the X-Line, and rides on 17-inch gloss-black wheels with all-terrain tyres instead of 18s with highway terrain tyres.

The more off-road-oriented Tasman also features an automatically engaging electronic locking rear differential, as well as an X-Trek mode that can maintain a low speed off-road without the need for the driver to touch the pedals.

Kia will also offer a Ground View Monitor to give drivers a better view of, well, the ground.

Dimensions
Here’s how the Tasman measures up:

Kia Tasman
Length 5410mm
Width 1930mm
Height (incl. roof rack) Base: 1870mm
X-Line: 1890mm
X-Pro: 1920mm
Wheelbase 3270mm
Ground clearance Base 4×2: 231mm
Base, X-Line 4×4: 224mm
X-Pro 4×4: 252mm
Payload 1017-1195kg
Kia says the Tasman has a wading depth of 800mm at speeds of up to 7km/h, with the company also using waterproof connectors for selected interior parts.

Tub
Here’s how the tub measures up:

Kia Tasman
Tub length 1512mm
Tub width 1572mm (1186mm between the wheels)
Tub depth 540mm
Cargo capacity 1173L (VDA)

Down back, there are standard corner steps as well as a power outlet (rated at 240v in Australia) and a sliding cargo floor.

Kia also says the Tasman has optional bedside flexibility, with a mini table for items such as a Bluetooth speaker or cup.

The company will offer four bed accessory configurations: Single Decker, Double Decker, Sports Bar, and Ladder Rack.

The Single Decker configuration features a canopy and butterfly doors for easy access, plus a roof rack for a rooftop tent, while the Double Decker features a sliding tonneau cover.

Kia will also offer a total of 13 accessory products, including two types of side steps and beadlock-style wheels.

Interior
Inside, there’s a similarly rugged look to the exterior.

There’s a widescreen assembly incorporating a 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen, a 5.0-inch climate display, and a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster.

There’s a honeycomb pattern to the air vents, while the centre stack and console have a minimalist look but with an array of physical buttons.

Kia has tried to make the Tasman’s interior as user-friendly as possible with various clever features like a large folding console table, storage bins under the rear seats with 33L of storage capacity, and dual wireless charging pads.

The company also boasts the Tasman has best-in-segment headroom, shoulder room and second-row legroom, with the rear seats also reclining by between 22 and 30 degrees.

There are also various sustainable finishes such as bio-plastic trim on the dashboard, carpeting made from recycled PET material, and upholstery made from a combination of this and bio-PU synthetic leather.

The interior can be had in five colourways:

Onyx Black/Medium Grey
Espresso Brown/Onyx Black
Deep Green/Medium Grey
Onyx Black/Medium Grey (X-Line and X-Pro)
Deep Green/Terracotta Brown (X-Line and X-Pro)
An eight-speaker Harman Kardon sound system is optional.

Kia will offer the Tasman with a range of active safety and driver assist features, including lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring, and Highway Driving Assist 2 which combines adaptive cruise and lane centring features.

It’ll also be offered with Kia’s Remote Smart Park Assist, allowing you to move the vehicle in and out of a parking space using the key fob.

Design
Kia says the Tasman has a “basic, honest form” that doesn’t rely on “the oversized styling that has come to dominate the pickup segment”, with particularly upright glass front and rear.

It features an expansive grille intended to visually emphasise the ute’s width, with a version of Kia’s Tiger Face and vertically oriented lighting.

A total of nine colours will be available. These are:

Clear White
Snow Pearl White
Steel Grey
Interstellar Grey
Aurora Black Pearl
Cityscape Green
Runway Red
Tan Beige
Denim Blue
The last two are new to Kia’s colour palette.

Pricing for the Kia Tasman is yet to be announced, but expect it to be competitive with Australia’s most popular utes. You can also expect Kia’s first ute to come with the Korean brand’s seven-year warranty and capped-price service plan.

[Woefulfogger]

But I'm not in its core target market anyways

[Franco Cozzo]

Holy shit - that's the worst thing I've seen since the AU Falcon, it's worse than that SsangYong Musso piece of crap.

They'll end up selling five of them, four to blind NDIS recipients and the last guy should just be euthanized.

It looks like Stephen Hawking after you broke rocks on his face

[naddis01]

Originally Posted by Franco Cozzo

Holy shit - that's the worst thing I've seen since the AU Falcon, it's worse than that SsangYong Musso piece of crap.

They'll end up selling five of them, four to blind NDIS recipients and the last guy should just be euthanized.

At one stage they were aiming for 20000 sales per year. Good luck. Interior is not bad though.

[DFB FGXR6]

Is it just me, or does it look incredibly cheap and flimsy?

[XR Martin]

Cue Joe Pesci meme.

[Citroënbender]

I don’t think you look cheap and flimsy.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by XR Martin

Cue Joe Pesci meme.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Is it just me, or does it look incredibly cheap and flimsy?

Looks like they took a Chevrolet Silverado and put it through the clothes dryer AFTER their wife told them not to.

There's got to be a few of us here on AFF who've destroyed some favorite garment of their significant other in this fashion

The square wheel arches is a Silverado thing.

[au2000]

I have no words for that kia...for god's sake.. put the cammo back on.
BYD shark pricing announced....60 grand

[lra]

When Kia first announced they were going to build a ute, I thought, 'Bewdy, a RHD version of the Hyundai Santa Cruz.' for those who do not want a hard core off-road truck for make believe Leyland Brothers impersonations.
Anyone remember when Leyland Australia (not the Brothers) released the Tasman.

But it soon became apparent that the Tasman was just going to be a same same 4WD double cab ugly sister, hopefully better looking when they took the fake panels off it.

Ohh, deary me ! Looks like an old LandRover Defender had sex with an unidentified dual cab that was wearing a tarp so as not to be seen in public.

[au2000]

Mitsubishi = Triton
Kia ….. hold my beer..

[Rastas]

Shark's first allocation of 2000 sold out in just over a day - their scrambling to try get extras in the future allocations as obviously demand is high at $57900

[prydey]

Originally Posted by naddis01

Diesel Petrol
Engine 2.2L turbo-diesel 4cyl 2.5L turbo-petrol 4cyl
Power 154kW 207kW
Torque 441Nm 421Nm
Transmission 6-speed manual or 8-speed auto 8-speed auto
0-100km/h 10.4s 8.5s
Fuel economy (target) 7.6L/100km 12.5L/100km
While that power figure stacks up well alongside the four-cylinder Ford Ranger BiTurbo (154kW) and Toyota HiLux (150kW), the torque figure falls below those popular utes (500Nm each) as well as the 3.0-litre Isuzu D-Max and Mazda BT-50 (450Nm), and the Mitsubishi Triton (470Nm).

I feel like they either didn't really do their homework or they just think the customers aren't the type to look to hard at the specs.

Be interesting to see the gearing and the torque curve but those specs look a bit light to me.

I guess they figure cars like dmax/bt50 etc sell ok however it's just lazy I think. To me it looks like they've just used an existing driveline option instead of actually trying to compete with ranger/hilux.

[PooDog]

It looks like it's made out of Lego

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by prydey

I feel like they either didn't really do their homework or they just think the customers aren't the type to look to hard at the specs.

Be interesting to see the gearing and the torque curve but those specs look a bit light to me.

I guess they figure cars like dmax/bt50 etc sell ok however it's just lazy I think. To me it looks like they've just used an existing driveline option instead of actually trying to compete with ranger/hilux.

Stop the press, we agree with each other, quick take screenshots for the history books someone.

Hatchet job by Kia, opportunity to really attempt to give it to Ford and Toyota, they even have some decent diesel engines in their range,

But no let's make it look like a hat full of assholes, and then slap a 4 cylinder diesel engine in it just like everyone else, absolutely no point of difference in the market, just another face in the crowd.

Mind you interested in the unleaded turbo 4 option they have, but to come out and boldly claim you're going to nab 20,000 sales is hilarious, looking forward to their show at Melbourne comedy festival.

Imagine hyping this up for so long and doing such a half assed job, and claiming you're going to compete, it's like when you put your five year old child's 'artwork' up on the fridge at home and you're pumping up their sails about how good it is

[CyberWasp]

Instead of being negative I am going to list all the Positive things about this ute...........................

[Ben73]

Looks like cross breeeding between a Triton, Gladiator and a Mahindra. Yet the Kia managed to get the worst trait of each Ute and combined them all for the ultimate ugly Ute.

The only way this will last more than a single generation is if it’s cheap as. Chinese cheap.
But f they try to charge established Ute prices for this it’s going to sit around gathering dust.
I don’t think Kias 7 year warranty and big interior screen will be enough to draw people in.


Every sane person right now

https://youtu.be/wLg04uu2j2o?si=UQ89LZ_E7UYbGg4q

[naddis01]

I would love to be in the marketing department at Kia at the moment. I dare say there are some awkward conversations going on there. The comments on Facebook on any story about the Tasman have not been kind.

[whynot]

Originally Posted by CyberWasp

Instead of being negative I am going to list all the Positive things about this ute...........................

Body on frame
Leaf springs at rear
17" steel rims out of the box on base models, with 18" on the rest (no need to swap/sell the useless 21")
Tyres are not the crappy Goodyear Wrangler Territory with soft sidewalls (Kumo AT51???)
Engine seems typical for the lower end of the 4WD market.
Payload seems typical
Towing load seems typical
Loss of sales to Kia might help Ford sharpen their pencil on Ranger pricing.