We all love a good Easter egg. Not the chocolate kind, but the little automotive gems that are semi-hidden in cars by the design team having a bit of fun.
The new Kia Tasman is a classic example, with the globally designed, part Aussie- and Kiwi-inspired and developed Kia ute offering a couple of easter eggs within its brand new model.
Kia Tasman launched in Saudi Arabia this week, bound for NZ in Q3 2025.
Talking with the Kia design team in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for the global reveal and International Motor Show, headed up by Lee Min Young, he cheekily gave away a few clues that the Kia Tasman does indeed contain a couple of easter eggs, but was reluctant to reveal what they were and the location… initially.
After pushing a bit further, we found couple of hidden easter eggs in the Tasman - but the key one isn’t what the design team thought...
Easter eggs are a popular feature among a few brands, such as Jeep, Mini and Ram: Jeep hides grille designs or Jeep profiles, Tesla has hidden features (who doesn't love the farting indicators...?), while Ram hid a T-Rex eating a raptor in its TR-X. Mini has also been known to frequently hide eggs, and Vauxhall has been hiding its shark motif for 20 years.
With its Antipodean influence, Young revealed that they were a few different considered easter eggs for the Kia Tasman, including kangaroos, koalas, lesser-known quokkas and even Ayers Rock/Uluru, the latter being discarded to eliminate any potential indigenous issues.
However, there were a few smiles and inferences about the easter eggs in the Tasman: and the challenge was on to hunt and find them.
Admittedly, with just a few minutes with the Tasman, the design team did relent and give us the inside tip on what they were and where to find them. First is a fairly obvious one, rather than an easter egg: the Tasman's dimensions in a small graphic near the centre console; too easy.
But flip up the centre console lid and underneath is a larger version of the same plan drawings, showing length, width and height in metric and imperial - a neat little addition that’s unexpected and totally unnecessary, but very much fun and appreciated.
We were glad they pointed out the final gem, as with initial supplied photography, Kia had edited out the answer in the supplied pics. However, the rear bench seat offers extra storage space underneath by pulling the straps either side and flipping up the bench.
Underneath isn’t just the 63-litres of added storage, but the image of a quokka! A what?!
The quokka is the happiest, cutest marsupial ever, and native to the Rotnest Island area off Western Australia. "Look, there it is," enthused Young, shining the light from his cell phone onto a discrete marking in the plastic.
Digging into the back seat area a closer inspection revealed that it wasn't what Young or the Kia team thought was a quokka, but a platypus, the distinctly Australian, weird, rare and endangered duck-billed, egg-laying mammal.
The design of a platypus is a very cute and cool discovery, and somewhat educational for the Kia design team, as even up to that point, they had all been referring to it as a quokka - however it was indeed a platypus, and truth be told, not technically endangered, but on the threatened and decreasing population list, approaching endangered.
No kiwis were mentioned as easter eggs, however, the team has suggested it will hide more in the future, so it could be something we look forward to in future Tasman models.
