May8
Kia announced on Thursday that it has canceled its plans to produce a mid-size pickup for the U.S. market. Kia gave the Honda Ridgeline-esque pickup truck the green light earlier this year, but decided to cancel the project due to rising fuel prices and a sagging pickup truck market.
"Because of high oil prices, the light-truck market is declining significantly, so now is not the right time to produce a pickup truck," Hyundai Motor Co. CEO Kim Dong-Jin told Automotive News.
The new truck was slated to be based on the 2010 Kia Sorento and produced at the company's new plant in West Point, Georgia. The now dead pickup was to be a mid-size unibody truck in the same vein as the Honda Ridgeline, powered by a V6 engine driving the front wheels.
Good. Less market erosion for GM, Ford and Chrysler.
Good idea Kia. Stick to compacts and you'll do fine for the next few years.
I feel bad for the people at the factory.
On the other hand, why not just build a true SMALL pickup the way companies once knew how to do?
Ford still makes a tru, small pickup, it's called the Ranger.
Yes, it's dated, but it's the best compact pick-up on the market.
I actually agree with the open toe sandal wearing jeep driver.
The Ranger is still too big, The Chevy LUV is the small pick up the Dumpster craves
wow this deanster dude posts at all hours of the day lol, must have no life, those losers from montreal canada must have nothing to do in their spare time. I unfortunately have to waste my time while my partner harrass a potential witness into spilling the beans. Soon it will be my turn. I'm playing the bad cop, and I love playing the bad cop. Anyways, I guess its good Kia isn't building pick ups, but they make good SUV's. Me and my buddy drove his Sorrento on a 200 mile off road trek and that thing was rock solid, even helped out a guy in an H3 get unstuck.
@olds307
I hate to tell you this, but the Ranger goes the way of the dodo in 2009.
Great. No one would buy it anyway. Please stick to what you know.
Mayer- That's what I've been thinking. The Ranger is pretty small, but isn't as small as what I'm thinking.
I think something as large as the Rabbit pick-up, produced in fairly small numbers using existing parts wouldn't be bad at all. Small market, but nobodies competing in it, and could easily be based off an existing vehicle.
The mid-size/compact pick-up market is underdeveloped anyways. The Tacoma and Dakota are the best offerings, but are as large as the F-150 was just a few years ago, and aren't all that fuel efficient. I have yet to hear any positive news about the Colorado, and the Ranger is outdated as ever. All of them have very lame engines, transmissions and some of the worst interiors on the market currently.
Just have to mention this, but has anybody seen the seats on the extended cab Colorado? I couldn't help but think to myself how cheap, horrible feeling and uncomfortable they are, and yes, I understand it's limited space, but could have been executed "better".
Fewer Kia's is really good news. I f I never saw another one of those crappy little beaters it would be just peachy.
Well it's not 2009 yet, and hopefully by that time GM will de-uglifiy the nose of the Colorado/Canyon.
The current Dakota is a very attractive package but it's not a compact
jayjc08: you win the teenie-weenie pickup prize of the day. The one you failed to mention was the Dodge Rampage built off the Omni 024. Like the Rabbit it was ahead of its time. They were both built like Swiss cheese but the concept was there. With the general populace of North America getting squeezed into smaller and ridiculously smaller plots of land even Canyon/Colorado is becoming overkill. Just make it small and economical enough that you'd have no hesitation to use it as a daily driver, but sturdy enough to haul a fridge or maybe even a dirt bike with the tailgate down. Subaru were the last guys that had the right idea with the Baja. Too bad it was overpriced, had 4 seats and nobody really needed the turbo option . C'mon- a WRX hauling barkmulch? I digress. Somebody- anybody- bring back the tiny 2 door with a box in the back. And I'm not talking about anything that'll get you busted in all 50 and most of Canada.
Ummm… not to question the brilliant minds at Kia or anything… but with rising oil prices, this would be the perfect time to release a small pickup. While a mid-size truck would be of questionable merit… as others have mentioned, the small pickup market has shrunk to relative inexistence and will pretty much be gone for good once the curtain finally drops on the Ranger (although I still have my doubts that they'll actually put it out to pasture). What were once smaller trucks have grown greatly over the years… the Dakota is a prime example… and versus the old S10, the new Colorado/Canyon twins are way too big as well.
If they priced it right and gave it decent styling, Kia could definitely sell an actual small pickup… the market is surely there.. especially with rising oil prices.
A Kia pickup would have been so dumb. Not just because of high gas prices and poor pickup sales, but because a very few idiots out there would consider wanting one. I guess Kia does have a working brain after all.
Hey tropper1, you and your fag buddy like dressing up like cops and taking turns frisking each other? I'm sure your favorite part is "cavity search."
Can't we just scrap ALL kia's.
Sign of intelligent life. Lots are full of those things and will be full for a while. I can't even imagine what a true working guy can drive those days. I recall Datsuns with 4 cylinder engines and 5 speed tranny being plumber's best friend, but because of pretentious assholes clamming after huge trucks working people have only gas guzzling vans as an option.
The small pick ups were great inexpensive cars. The best in my opinion were.
#1 '94 on S-10, 4cylinder - 5Spd will run forever, Virtually rust proof, good heavy frame, brakes, suspension and sheetmetal (weaknesses are really only sqeeky interior bad fuel and water pumps).
#2 '82-'87 Toyota 4 cyl-5 Spd only, great tough little truck
#3 '86-'92 Nissan "Hardbody" Pretty fast, Great engine and trans, some have a 2.4L w/3 valves and 2 spark plugs per cylinder (horrible seats, bad paint and thin sheetmetal).
Chevy Luv/Isuzu predecessor of Isuzu Trooper. Tough little creation with better ride then Toyota.
johnnycannuck- I always liked the Ram 50 a little better. A little larger, but better fuel economy, better performance and will run on a handful of fuels, with few changes.
The Subaru Baja didn't give much reason for contractors, businesses or any other like organizations to buy them up in the drove, like earlier small pick-ups. It was overpriced, but I think it's biggest downfall was the tiny bed it had. I remember my family remarked when we had looked at one that it wouldn't hold much of anything, which is true with the tailgate up.
What would be great is
A.) A true mid-size pick-up, not necessarily large but like the Dodge Dakota was about 12 years ago, with a few engine choices and a diesel, but something that's seriously made to be high quality and comfortable unlike the current "mid-size pickups", or/and
B.) A true compact pick-up like the Rabbit/ Ram 50 and older Rampage, economical, reliable and simple.
jayjc08: somebody will take the plunge. I've babbled on and on about the reincarnation of vehicles the size of a Sidekick but maybe it will take another buck a gallon before everyone starts scrambling.
johnnycannuck- That wouldn't be bad either, the Sidekick/Tracker fit a pretty small niche. They were probably the best vehicles from the GEO lineup, the Geo Storm being the next best.
But once again, they had a lot of the same problems small pick-ups had. Underdeveloped, underpowered and a bad reputation. I had been at a car dealership recently, they had an XL-7 (stretched Sidekick) in the back being cleaned out. I was suprised how small of a space 6 or 7 people would fit, but it was indeed, a very small space.
And so far, the "compact"/mid-size pick up market has had some of the largest fallouts in terms of sales. I think it's because automakers refuse to update those vehicles, and simply the fact someone would rather go with a full-size option, or an SUV and loose a mile to the gallon or two. They could be great money makers for the Big Three, but only the Dakota is really "developed". Even then, it has a slow, slow transmission and little oomph, talking of the V-6 model.