Tasman rises: Kia’s first ute earns top safety rating in competitive field

The highly-anticipated Kia Tasman dual cab utility has achieved the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating following independent testing and assessment against ANCAP’s 2023-2025 criteria.

As one of the most anticipated entrants into the Australian market, and the first ute for the brand, the Kia Tasman has delivered strong safety outcomes across all four key areas of assessment: Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable Road User Protection, and Safety Assist.

This rating comes at a time when utes continue to dominate the Australian and New Zealand new car markets. New car sales data published by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) for the month of June 2025 revealed four of the top five selling vehicles sold in Australia were dual cab utilities, with light commercial vehicles accounting for more than one in four new vehicles sold (25.3%). The four top-selling utes - Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux, Isuzu D-Max and BYD Shark 6 - all hold five-star ANCAP safety ratingsⁱ. Similar dominance was seen in New Zealand where four of the top eight selling models in June were utes.ⁱⁱ

“The popularity of utes among consumers continues to rise. Given their time spent on the road both as commercial workhorses and family transport, it is important that models in this high-volume segment offer robust levels of safety,” said ANCAP Chief Executive Officer, Carla Hoorweg.

The Kia Tasman performed well across the range of crash protection and collision avoidance tests. Notable high scores, denoting low risk of injury, were recorded for each of the adult and child dummy occupants in the frontal offset crash test. Equally impressive was the moderately low crash compatibility risk. This assessment evaluates the risk the test vehicle poses to potential crash partner vehicles and their occupants. For a vehicle of its size and mass, the Tasman performed very well.

A concern was noted in the full width frontal crash test where the pelvis of the driver dummy slipped beneath lap section of the seatbelt. A penalty was applied.

“Fleet buyers and potential Tasman customers across the country have been eagerly awaiting the Tasman’s safety rating, and this five-star result will be welcome news.”

“With such strong market presence and consumer demand, it’s pleasing to see manufacturers continuing to prioritise safety in this segment,” Ms Hoorweg added.

“The dual cab shopping list is already healthy, and we expect to see it grow further with other new contenders entering the market in the coming months. Consumers and fleets should check the ANCAP website regularly to ensure they have all the information they need to make an informed, and safe, purchasing decision,” said Ms Hoorweg.

With the exception of the X-Line and X-Pro, the five-star rating for the Kia Tasman applies to 4x4 dual cab variants currently on sale. X-Line and X-Pro variants, as well as 4x2 rear-wheel-drive, and upcoming single-cab and dual cab-chassis variants have not been assessed by ANCAP and are unrated.

Full details on the performance of the Kia Tasman can be viewed here.

ⁱ Ford Ranger, 5 star (2022); Toyota Hilux, 5 star (2019); Isuzu D-MAX, 5 star (2022); BYD Shark 6, 5 star (2025).
ⁱⁱ NZ Motor Industry Association New Vehicle Registrations, June 2025 (Retail share by marque & model).
ⁱⁱⁱ The criteria applied to models rated by ANCAP changes over time. Further detail https://www.ancap.com.au/what-do-the-star-ratings-mean.