Kia Australia jostling to launch new ute range

Kia Australia has confirmed plans to launch a ute and possibly a light commercial range.

An artistic impression of a dual cab Kia ute, which will arrive in Australia by 2022 at the earliest. Picture: Digitally enhanced

KIA is hopeful of having a full ute range on sale in Australia within three years.

Inclusive of a dual-cab, single-cab, cab-chassis and possibly a light truck, Kia has confirmed the earliest its haulers would arrive Down Under is 2022.

"We want a full range of light commercial vehicles,” Kia Australia spokesman Kevin Hepworth said.

"We are quietly confident we will get some, but it's not a signed off program.”

Hepworth said the ute would need a strong towing and payload capacity to be used "as a useful working vehicle”.

There has been no mention of powertrains. Within the three-year time frame there could be a new generation of engines available.

Utes are a dominant figure in the national vehicle sales landscape. Four of the top 10 sellers last month were utes.

Perennial favourite, the Toyota HiLux, remains the nation's most popular new vehicle, and has been the top seller for the past two years. Second in the September sales charts was the Ford Ranger according to industry statistician VFACTS, the Mitsubishi Triton was seventh while Nissan's Navara finished ninth.

Adding a light commercial range would further strengthen Kia's position as the fastest growing mainstream brand in Australia.

Slowly climbing the sales ladder over the past decade, Kia was ranked seventh most popular brand last month - just 81 units behind Ford.