Yahoo Autos Watch the Kia Tasman Pickup Truck Do Donuts in the Desert in New Video
The Kia Tasman continues to undergo development testing, and a new YouTube video shows it in the Al Qudra Desert in the Middle East.
In the teaser video, Kia's mid-size pickup truck is seen driving near camels, pounding over sand dunes, and doing donuts.
A previous video showed the Tasman testing in California, which gives us hope that Kia might sell it in the United States.
Tired of EVs and SUVs? Well, they're not going anywhere, but Kia is going to release its first-ever pickup truck in the not-so-distant future. It will be called the Tasman, as the Korean automaker confirmed this past spring, and Kia has since released several videos teasing the mid-size pickup testing in various conditions. The latest video shows the Tasman racing around a desert in the Middle East.
The YouTube video was posted yesterday, and it's about one minute and 30 seconds long. It opens with a shot of the Al Qudra Desert located in the United Arab Emirates, with text that says Kia has now conducted 18,000 rounds of tests. Soon we see the Tasman in its colorful camouflage roll up to get its tires deflated for better traction in the sand. We can see it's wearing Hankook Dynapro AT2 Extreme all-terrain tires mounted on gray 17-inch wheels.
Cutscene—the Tasman is speeding over dunes to test its suspension stability, and we get an underbody shot that shows it has a solid rear axle, confirming our speculation that it'll use a body-on-frame platform versus a unibody like the mid-size Kia Telluride SUV. Following more action shots of various powertrain tests, including another underbody shot that shows a full-size spare mounted beneath the Tasman's cargo bed, the video closes with the truck driving next to a bunch of camels before doing donuts in the sand.
Another Tasman Video
Last month, Kia released another YouTube video showing the Tasman undergoing a wading test. The video (shown below) isn't nearly as action-packed as the newest desert edition, but it's another example of the kind of capability Kia is targeting for its first pickup truck.
In the coming months, we expect Kia to officially unveil the Tasman to the world. Of course, it's unclear whether we'll learn if it's destined to make its way to our shores at that time. Americans love trucks, and the Tasman has been shown testing in rocky regions of California, so does that mean it's destined for U.S. roads? Only time will tell.
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