Kia To Launch Hybrid, EREV Body-On-Frame Pickup Truck In The U.S. By 2030

Hyundai caused a big splash at the New York International Auto Show when it pulled the covers off its Boulder concept, a body-on-frame SUV aimed squarely at the Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco that also served as confirmation Hyundai is working on a midsize pickup truck that will be on sale in the U.S. by 2030. Not to be outdone, Kia just officially announced it's also entering the U.S. market with a midsize body-on-frame pickup truck by 2030, powered by conventional hybrid and extended-range EV powertrains. We've got no idea what it'll look like, but hopefully it won't be as butt-ugly as the Tasman pickup it sells in other markets.

Kia says its new truck will offer everything mid-size pickup truck buyers want: ample interior room, off-road capability and the ability to tow whatever you might need. It even included a teaser image depicting what appeared to be a double-cab pickup towing a camper, according to Automotive News. Just a year ago, when we last told you about this truck, Kia said it was going to be offered with an electric drivetrain, but it's not clear if that's the case anymore — at the very least, it wasn't mentioned in Kia's latest statement. I suppose times are changing quickly. No matter the drivetrain, it has to be a hell of a machine if it wants to take on segment heavyweights like the Toyota Tacoma, Ford Ranger and Chevy Colorado.

As ever, Kia isn't shying away from a lofty goal. During the Korean automaker's Investor Day, CEO Ho Sung Song said the goal was to sell 90,000 trucks per year and grab 7% of the midsize pickup segment by 2034. For reference, Toyota sold 274,638 Tacomas, Chevy sold 107,867 Colorados and Ford sold 70,960 Rangers in 2025.

Of course, none of those trucks offer anything close to an EREV powertrain, and the Tacoma is the only midsize truck you can only get as a hybrid in the U.S. right now. I suppose you could throw the all-electric Rivian R1T in with this group, but it far eclipses all of them on price and performance.

The body-on-frame truck, which would be the first such vehicle from Kia since the Borrego SUV that only lasted one model year in the U.S. (but got a second generation in Korea), is part of Song's strategy to hit 1 million sales in the U.S. by increasing the number of available hybrids from five vehicles to eight. Right now, the only hybrids it sells are versions of the Niro, Sportage, Sorento, Carnival and Telluride.

Due to the rapid changes of the automotive world around us, Kia is tempering its EV expectations for the second year in a row. Song says the company now expects to sell 1 million EVs in 2030. That's down from the 1.3 million he aimed for last year. Previously, that number was as high as 1.6 million units. Still, it's not all bad in Kia's world. Quite the opposite, really. In the U.S., Kia aims to make the Sportage its first-ever single model to cross 200,000 sales, and it expects the new Telluride's sales to pop off as well.

There's still a lot we don't know about Kia's upcoming truck, but based on its recent track record of making hit after hit, I've got a lot of confidence it can pull off something great. I just hope it doesn't look anything like the Tasman.