After broad hints by a Kia executive earlier this week that the Korean automaker was planning a pickup truck for North America, confirmation of the project came today during the company's investor and top executive day.
Kia thus plans to will develop and market an all-electric pickup truck in the North American market. The model will be based on a new platform designed for “urban and off-road use”.
The explicit reference to urban used suggests that the truck won’t be full-sized. So as predicted, we can expect a mid-size model that would be similar in dimensions to the Toyota Tacoma, for example.
Few details have filtered out about the new model, only that it will be “innovative”, as the company says, and designed to offer the best cargo space and clearance in its class. It will also be able to tow heavy loads and venture off-road with confidence.
Kia further promises a model at the cutting edge in terms of technology and safety. Ultimately, the Korean manufacturer hopes to sell 90,000 units per year, for a market share that would fluctuate around 7 percent.
The company said nothing today regarding where the pickup might be produced, but any foreign automaker wanting to sell a pickup truck in the United States has to build it there, due to the famous/infamous 25-percent "Chicken Tax" imposed on that type of foreign-made model. Which, we remind you, has nothing to do with the new auto tariffs imposed by the U.S. last week.
Ans of course, the Hyundai/Kia group already has facilities in the U.S., with others planned; domestic production is entirely feasible, in other words.
We also don’t know at this point when a first concept version might be presented, even less when a production model will be ready.