Is Kia toughening up the Tasman?

Uploaded to Instagram by the Kia Tasman Club, the ute has been captured driving in its home nation, albeit with even greater ground clearance.

This appears to be largely courtesy of the significantly larger knobbly off-road tyres which are fitted to its bead-lock wheels, while there also appears to be more space between the rubber and controversially styled guards.

We don’t yet know if this will lead to a production model, but Kia has already shown off what the Tasman could be capable of when it revealed the Weekender (or WKNDR) concept at the Seoul motor show.

That model featured an even bigger suspension lift, beefy front and rear bumpers with integrated recovery points, off-road tyres, and multiple accessories for camping in the tub.

At the time, Kia didn’t say whether it would go to production, nor did it explicitly say there were any powertrain differences between the WKNDR and regular Tasman.

South Korean examples of the ute get a 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine, though Australian Tasmans are exclusively powered by a 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel, developing 154kW and 441Nm.

Kia executives have previously said a V6 version isn’t in its immediate plans, despite having 3.3- and 3.5-litre petrol engines in its broader model lineup.