A Kia bakkie will be on sale in South Africa by 2025

News of a Kia bakkie on the horizon in the next two years shouldn’t surprise anyone who understands the automotive landscape right now.

As automotive manufacturing wallows somewhere between a shift to electrification and compact crossovers as the cure-all for future mobility, more carmakers have identified pick-up trucks – or bakkies to use the correct parlance – as worthwhile products with a profitable future.

KIA BAKKIE: TELL US MORE

As reported by our colleagues at CarBuzz, that certainly seems to be the case with Kia in Australia. Reports from Australia confirm the Korean manufacturer is developing a mid-size bakkie in the same vein as a Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux for down under.

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According to reports, highly placed sources in Kia’s Australian dealer network says the future truck was announced at a recent dealer conference and will go on sale in 2025. When asked for a comment, Kia confirmed the fact that the truck is indeed being developed but added no further comment.

WHAT CHASSIS WILL IT RUN?

Kia and Hyundai pool their resources to maintain profitability, however, world on the street is the upcoming Kia bakkie will not share Hyundai Santa Cruz mechanicals, instead it will have a proper body-on-frame floor plan, making it a true competitor to the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux. Great news.

There have been plenty of speculative renderings of the Kia bakkie leading up to this confirmation – these pictured are just some of them – and spy photos of a heavily camouflaged Kia bakkie surfaced late last year as well. So we have no doubt 2025 is a realistic launch date for the Kia bakkie.

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WILL IT COME TO SOUTH AFRICA?

Will we ever see it in bakkie-loving SA? We sure hope so. We reckon it would be rude of Kia to develop a bakkie – and in the southern hemisphere no less – and not sell it here. After all, the Ford Ranger is essentially an Aussie bakkie that is welcomed with open arms in SA. Therefore, we’d say it’s pretty likely that we’ll get a look in for the Kia bakkie. Make it happen, Kia!