Pickup truck
A pickup truck or pickup is a light or medium duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering).
In South Africa, people of all language groups use the term bakkie; a diminutive of Afrikaans: bak, meaning bowl or container.
[3] In North America, the pickup is mostly used as a passenger car[4] and accounts for about 18% of total vehicles sold in the United States.
[5] Full-sized pickups and SUVs are an important source of revenue for major car manufacturers such as Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, accounting for more than two-thirds of their global pre-tax earnings, though they make up just 16% of North American vehicle production.
[7][unreliable source] In the early days of automobile manufacturing, vehicles were sold only as a chassis and third parties added bodies on top.
Seeking part of this market share, Dodge introduced a 3/4-ton pickup with a cab and body constructed entirely of wood in 1924.
[10] In 1925, Ford followed up with a steel-bodied half-ton based on the Model T with an adjustable tailgate and heavy-duty rear springs.
In 1928, it was replaced by the Model A, which had a closed-cab, safety-glass windshield, roll-up side windows, and three-speed transmission.
In 1931, General Motors introduced light-duty pickups for both GMC and Chevrolet targeted at private ownership.
In 1963, the US chicken tax directly curtailed the import of the Volkswagen Type 2, distorting the market in favor of US manufacturers.
[19] The US government's 1973 Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) policy set higher fuel-economy requirements for cars than pickups.
CAFE led to the replacement of the station wagon by the minivan, the latter of which belonged in the truck category, which allowed it to comply with less strict emissions standards.
Subsequently, US manufacturers built their compact pickups for the domestic market, including the Ford Ranger, and the Chevrolet S-10.
[19] As of 2016, the IRS offers tax breaks for business use of "any vehicle equipped with a cargo area ... of at least six feet in interior length that is not readily accessible from the passenger compartment".
The NOx law and other differing regulations prevent pickups from being imported to Japan, but the Japanese domestic market Mitsubishi Triton was available for a limited time.
In China (where it is known by the English loanword as 皮卡车 pí kǎ chē), the Great Wall Wingle is manufactured domestically and exported to Australia.
[33] In Thailand, pickups manufactured for local sale and export include the Isuzu D-Max and the Mitsubishi Triton.
The first crew-cab truck in the United States was made by International Harvester in 1957 and was later followed by Dodge in 1963, Ford in 1965, and Chevrolet in 1973.
The design was more popular in North America in the 1950s and 1960s, with examples including the Chevrolet Corvair Rampside and Loadside, Dodge A-100 and A-108, Ford Econoline, and Jeep FC-150 and FC-170.
The terms half-ton, three-quarter-ton, and one-ton are remnants from a time when the number referred to the maximum cargo capacity by weight.
This is typically a pickup truck with higher payload and/or towing capabilities than is standard for their size.
[37][38] Mahindra Bolero MaXX Pik-Up HD is a heavy duty mid-size pickup truck with a two tonne payload.
The two types of bed have been given a variety of names by different manufacturers; "Stepside" and "Fleetside" originate with Chevrolet but are also frequently used by Dodge as well as GMC.
The first fleet-sided pickup truck was the Crosley in the 1940s,[citation needed] followed by the 1955 Chevrolet Cameo Carrier.
In many parts of the world, pickups frequently use a dropside bed – with a flat tray with hinged panels that can be raised separately on the sides and the rear.
For example, in the US, a homeowner can rent a pickup truck to transport a large appliance from a home supply store.
[46] Pickups are popular with overlanders as they are often the most affordable vehicle capable of carrying the large quantities of fuel needed for long distance, remote travel and generator use without expensive modifications.
A body-on-frame pickup truck with an exterior width of more than two meters (excluding mirrors and/or widebody/flares for dually wheels).
