As many foreign manufacturers quickly learned, if they want Americans to buy their products, they need to be either trucks or mid to full-sized SUVs. Kia has been doing exceptionally well with the Telluride, Sportage, Seltos, Sorento, and EV9. The South Korean automaker has been making Toyota and Honda nervous with the Kia Carnival minivan.

Kia’s also one of the few automakers that continues to produce sedans, too. Now, Kia is coming into the truck market. If you haven’t met the Tasman, it’s a mid-sized, off-road centric truck that dominates markets almost everywhere—except the United States.

“We don’t develop that vehicle [the Tasman] for the American market,” Kia CEO Ho Sung Song told Autonews. “But in the meantime, we are now seriously studying how to get into the pickup truck market in the United States through a different model that is not the Tasman.”

Which is truly a shame, because with features like X-TREK mode, ground view monitors, a full-sized and comfortable second row, respectable towing capacity, and a friendly starting price of around $41,000, it would do well in America.

Kia will build its new truck in America

Song was careful to avoid answering specific questions about sizing, pricing, or propulsion methods. Of course, Kia’s been making excellent strides with its EVs and hybrids, so it wouldn’t be shocking if it were an EV or hybrid.

Naturally, if Kia is developing a truck (that will be manufactured in the company’s new Georgia plant), Hyundai will follow suit—as long as Kia’s experiment proves successful.

Song did confirm, however, that more details would be announced on April 9 during Kia’s Investor Day.

Regardless of what they announce, the Toyota Tacoma, Jeep Gladiator, and Nissan Frontier should stay on their toes. Especially since a recent partnership with GM could mean a powerful repurposing of the GMC Canyon or Chevy Colorado.

Readers think it’s a smart move

Since Kia has a track record of properly analyzing the American market, many think a truck would be good for the company.

“If the new truck looks anything like the concepts from 2018, I think it will be a popular unit,” wrote a commenter on CarScoops‘s coverage.

Another thinks the truck would benefit from a design shift.

“[The Tasman] is uglier than sin, though,” they wrote. “I hope they take notes from the Telluride. It’s a beautiful car.”

Someone else suspects it will look familiar to GM’s trucks.

“This will 100% be based on the Colorado. There’s no way Hyundai-Kia will develop a separate BOF RWD platform for the US in time for a 2026-2029 launch,” they wrote. “Let’s just hope it’s at least a reskin and not a rebadge.”