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It’s Not Just America—the World Loves Its Pickup Trucks
In 2024, Ford sold more than 750,000 F-Series pickup trucks. Chevrolet moved more than half a million Silverados, GMC nearly a third of a million Sierras, and Ram more than 370,000 pickups across various lines. Even Toyota shifted nearly 160,000 examples of its Tundra.
All that to say, trucks remain America’s defining method of transport—and they will be for quite some time. But trucks are big business elsewhere in the world, too. India’s most popular model, the Mahindra Bolero, comfortably sells more than 100,000 units per year, Toyota offers its Hilux in more than 180 countries, and most global automakers have a pickup, big or small, at least somewhere in their lineup.
Below is a roundup of the pickups the Big Three have sold to the rest of the world, along with a selection of trucks produced in other countries that you may not even know existed.
Ford
The current Ranger is about as close as Ford has gotten to a successful “world car” over the years. Specification variances aside, the Ranger “T6” you can buy here is pretty similar to the one sold in Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, Australia, and beyond.
It’s a great truck, but isn’t the world car concept a little boring? Ford has no quirky, single-market trucks on offer anymore, but it does have a heck of a back catalog of the things. Ford Brazil offered a bewildering number of trucks between 1979 and 1992 using the F-1000 nameplate, all based loosely on the fifth-generation F-Series that had gone out of production in 1972; you could have a traditional pickup in gas and diesel forms, but also various unholy mashups of F-Series and E-Series, the half truck/half van, and all of them mad.
South Africa’s taste for small car-based trucks known as “bakkies” also resulted in some interesting vehicles, including a line called the Bantam, first based on the European Escort compact car, then later the Fiesta subcompact. Ford of Europe had the P100 from the 1970s to the 1990s, based on the mid-size Sierra, and of course Australia had a Falcon Ute, complete with the legendary “Barra” inline-six.
General Motors
Like Ford, GM used to have a range of pickups available around the world, but today most of its output is geared toward the U.S. alone.
With the disappearance of Australian arm Holden in 2021, the world lost probably one of the General’s most appealing pickups, the Holden Ute, based on the VE and VF Commodores, the car better known to American audiences as the Chevy SS. The range started with V-6s but topped out with 362-hp V-8 versions.
South Africa was once again fruitful with its “bakkie” small pickups, offering the Opel Corsa Utility, based on the front-wheel-drive Opel and Vauxhall Corsa subcompact offered in Europe. This was spiritually succeeded by Brazil’s Chevrolet Montana, a truck version of the Brazil-specific subcompact Chevrolet Agile—though since 2023, Brazil has got one of the few GM trucks still offered overseas: an all-new Chevy Montana, riding on the same platform as the Trailblazer CUV.
Chrysler
Whether through the Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, or Ram brands, what you see from Chrysler’s U.S. output is broadly what the brand has offered—the conglomerate has rarely sold distinct trucks outside of its home market (though we’ll come to a few of the newer vehicles under the Stellantis umbrella below).
One exception, however, is the RAM Rampage, launched in Brazil in 2023. Using a name once applied to a small front-wheel-drive Dodge ute, today’s Rampage is effectively a Jeep Compass underneath, offered with a 272-hp two-liter gasoline engine and a pair of diesels. The size is similar to that of the Ford Maverick, at 198 inches long, with a slightly longer but slightly narrower bed.
RAM also sells the larger 1200 in Mexico—a variant of the Peugeot Landtrek and Fiat Titano mentioned further down, and a rival for more familiar trucks like the Ford Maverick and Toyota Hilux.
U.K.
The U.K.’s sole contribution to the pickup truck market is the Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster—the double-cab, open-back version of the brand’s rugged yet high-end 4×4. From a country that once offered commercial versions of everyday cars like the Minor, Marina, and the Mini (not all began with “M”, we promise), only the Quartermaster is left—and even that’s built in France.
As the regular Grenadier takes inspiration (the extent of which is open to legal debate) from the old Land Rover Defender, so the Quartermaster bears resemblance to pickup versions of the same. Unlike the Land Rover, which came in single- and double-cab forms and a few different wheelbases, the Quartermaster is double-cab only. U.S. pricing hasn’t yet been confirmed, though in the U.K. it’s a touch less than the Station Wagon, so bank on around $70K.
France
Much like the U.K. and Italy, France once had a thriving market of trucks based on passenger cars, from dozens of prewar models to more idiosyncratic choices like those based on the flat-twin–engined Citroën 2CV and Dyane. Panel vans began to take over in the 1980s and 1990s, with the likes of the Citroën Berlingo, but the country does make, or at least outsources the making of, a couple of pickups today.
One is the Renault Oroch, built and sold in various South American markets, and in Africa as well. It’s based on Renault’s rebadged version of the Dacia Duster (a small SUV from Renault’s budget Romanian subsidiary, and Europe’s seventh-best-selling car in 2024.
Meanwhile, Peugeot sells a truck called the Landtrek—a mid-sizer similar in dimenions to a Toyota Hilux and co-developed with Chinese partner Changan. It is built and sold in several regions, including Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Fiat’s Titano, and the RAM 1200 sold in Mexico, are essentially the same vehicle, just rebadged.
Italy
As you may have gathered by now, South America is still a key market for small, affordable trucks, and it’s precisely where Fiat has chosen to concentrate its pickup output, with three models available on the continent: the Strada, Toro, and Titano. The Strada is the smallest and has a lineage that stretches back to 1998, though it’s technically only in its second generation. This arrived in 2020 and is based on a Brazilian-market subcompact. Despite being just 176 inches long, it has a double-cab layout—so the bed is on the small side.
Next up is the Toro, related but not identical to the RAM Rampage, and offered with smaller engines, starting with just a 1.3-liter turbocharged gas unit. Unlike the Strada, the Toro has the option of all-wheel drive. The range tops out with the Titano, built in Uruguay and based on the Peugeot Landtrek detailed above.
Germany
Volkswagen is Germany’s pickup producer, since Mercedes ended its dalliance with trucks after the short-lived, Nissan-based X-Class in 2020. That said, Volkswagen’s major truck export, the Amarok, has effectively been a rebadged Ford Ranger since 2022, and it is built alongside the Ranger at Ford’s Silverton plant in South Africa. Single- and double-cab variants are available, as per the Ranger, while there’s still a V-6 turbodiesel on offer alongside a range of four-cylinder gas and diesel variants.
Brazil, though, also gets the Saveiro, based on the home-market Gol hatchback. The latest Saveiro arrived in 2009, a year after the third-gen Gol, but while the hatchback disappeared in 2023, the pickup is still going strong. Single- and extended-cab models are offered, both getting a modest 114-hp flex-fuel 1.6-liter four-cylinder to power their front wheels.
Japan
Japan’s presence both in its home territory and much of Southeast Asia means it has a diverse range of trucks on offer. There are the obvious mid-size trucks, such as the Toyota Hilux, Mazda BT-50, Nissan Navara, Mitsubishi Triton, and Isuzu D-Max, many of which are sold in markets across the globe, but the most interesting are those sold a little closer to home.
The Toyota Hilux Champ is one of those, a compact pickup produced in Thailand and the Philippines and sold exclusively in Southeast Asian markets. Powered by four-cylinder gas and diesel engines, it’s similar in size to the old third-gen Ford Ranger, but even more utilitarian, with modular body panels and a no-nonsense interior. Its 459,000 baht price in Thailand equates to just $13,500.
Then there are the kei trucks. The Daihatsu Hijet (and related Toyota Pixis and Subaru Sambar), Nissan Clipper, Suzuki Carry (and related Mazda Scrum) and Super Carry all fit inside the diminutive kei-jidousha dimension limits, and the cheapest start at under one million yen including tax, or about $6,500. Think about that next time you’re paying double that much for a battered and bruised 25-year-old model that’s just landed at the docks …
Korea
North American customers will be familiar with the Hyundai Santa Cruz, but it’s not the only pickup offered by the enormous Korean car-manufacturing duo of Hyundai and Kia. Going on sale soon in the Australian, African, and Middle Eastern markets is the Kia Tasman, a mid-sized body-on-frame truck.
It’s not what you might call pretty, with slightly goofy styling from all angles, and enormous plastic fender trims that look like eyebrows for the wheels. The interior, however, is more typical of modern Kias; think enormous touchscreen and a clean, horizontal styling theme to the dashboard. Power comes from 2.5-liter gasoline and 2.2-liter diesel turbocharged fours.
Otherwise, Korea’s historical truck output has been sparse: a Hyundai Pony pickup here, a SsangYong Musso mid-size truck there (which did have its own road course race series in the U.K. and New Zealand in the 2010s …), plus some awkward-looking Daewoo models based on an ancient Polish FSO in the 1980s and 90s.
China
If you thought the explosive progress of China’s automotive industry was limited to EV passenger cars, think again. Although there’s no sign of an F-Series or Rivian rival anytime soon, many of the big Chinese brands already have challengers in the mid-size truck segment currently occupied by the likes of the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger.
A few for you to Google include the JAC T-Series, GWM Steed and Cannon, Changan Hunter, and Radar RD6—one or two plug-in hybrid powertrains aside, they’re fairly unremarkable vehicles but all priced to give the current players a hard time in any market they deem fit.
The BYD Shark, though, already on sale in China and Mexico, features the kind of technical and visual sophistication that could really challenge the established brands. Not only does it have chunky and quite modern styling, it’s also got four-motor electric all-wheel drive, a 1.5-liter range-extender, and a 0–62 mph time of just 5.7 seconds.
India
But for a few overseas markets where value is king, India’s trucks have rarely spread too far beyond the subcontinent. You probably haven’t even heard of the best-selling truck in India, the Mahindra Bolero Pik-Up, despite this being a nation of 1.4 billion people. Though its 2.5-liter diesel engine only makes 75 hp, it has a 1.7-ton payload. Mahindra also sells a more passenger-focused truck, the mid-size and marginally more sophisticated Scorpio Pik-Up.
Tata Motors, owner of Jaguar Land Rover and once producer of the world’s cheapest car, the Nano, also builds pickups. Its core model is variously called Yodha, Xenon, and TL Sprint. It’s another that fits into the globally popular mid-size category—alongside that Hilux again. The current variant has been around, albeit facelifted several times, since 2006, and has even made inroads into the Spanish and Italian truck markets.
The term truck here and globally is a lose term. What is a truck here is not what a truck is in most of the world. Even the global mfg of trucks are not building one truck fits all. There are often different size, cost and feature expectations to other markets.
Then Utes are something else and mostly dead even down under.
If you note the models we have here and the similar models in 3rd world markets they are very different.
Not to mention “articulated lorrie”!
B^)
Most of these “trucks” are smaller than what is generally sold in North America. You also didn’t supply the reader with any sales numbers of these “trucks” so to say the world loves pickups isn’t quite right. Traveling through Europe, Australia and New Zealand I’m confident to say most pickups and vans are smaller than anything sold over here. It’s rare to see a big transport truck like we see here. Maybe 2/3 scale on average.
Many shown here are no longer in production.
Personally, I would love for GM to make the equivalent of the Holden Ute for the U.S. Small to mid-size trucks only available in 4-door and small beds have been done to death.
As a past owner of a big block Sprint SP GMC I would love to see that too.
But with not real platform, limited sales it financially just not plausible.
Also the buyers want 4 doors.
Even down under Utes are gone. Our best shot was the Holden based G8ST
We see the Renault Oruch almost frequently here in southern Arizona as our neighbors cross the border to shop UT the we also see all the cool little trucks by Ram, Chevrolet, VW and more that we are denied in America. What I never see in Mexico though are big jacked up 4 x 4 four door pickups although I did see a Cybertruck in Mazatlan last week.
Saw a Hyundai Santa Cruz the other day. The most useless size bed. Maybe ok if your taking 2 bags of garbage to the dump or filling your gas can for lawn mower and don’t want fumes in the cab
Same for the Maverick.
I understand that truck class in general is designed to haul things. Form 18 wheelers down to the smaller pickup offerings we see today. But I think it all boils down to frequency of use. I don’t ever see myself purchasing any pickup truck, simply because the large majority of opportunities or few and far between. My hatchback or sedan handle most of my needs, and those rare situations when I do need on, I just rent one for the day. I also enjoy enthusiastic driving, which unfortunately most of these options are well suited for. I’m probably in the minority if the posed statistics in this story have merit, and that’s okay. I live where well maintained roads, with minimal traffic are easy to find, and many others do not.
Me wants Ford Falcon Ute. Yummy….
Car based trucks look like a truck but are not as capable of doing full truck duties. For most people that is not an issue. Most of these are car based. I did love the high performance Australian utes. I wish we had those sold here.
I see unjustified hate for the small size trucks in these comments. Take a moment to remember the S10 crew cab, and its 55in long and 40in wide (between wheel arches, which took up most of the bed). I know many, myself included, who used that truck for amazing utility, and some who are still driving them today. For comparison, that “tiny” Maverick bed is 54in x 53in, only an inch shorter, and with no wheel arches significantly wider. It’s cab is the same size as the old S10 crew, and its 1500lb payload capacity outdoes the S10 crew’s 1100lbs. So, if you got by with an S10 crew back in the day, a Maverick is literally its equal or superior in all but off-road capacity. If this small size and capacity is too small, explain the nearly 3 million S10s sold during its lifetime. Ditto the old Toyota Truck of the 80s and 90s, and the small Ranger of the 90s and early 2000s.
Thank you for saying what I was about too. The small vehicle hate comes from a measurement thing. And Hence, compensation.
I love my little 1990 Mazda B2200 in which I haul firewood, garbage, and other items. I get a lot of looks from people when they see me actually use it for what I believe it was meant for. Of course, the majority of people cannot even fit in it now. I had one guy who tried to get in and I told him he was not going to fit and would have to ride in the bed…he declined.
Not to be picky, but that Holden ute (actually an HSV) has the supercharged LSA which gives it about 583hp.
A minor quibble, but the Holden ute is an HSV Maloo with the supercharged LSA which gives it 583hp, for when you really need to get those 2 bags of rubbish to the tip quickly.
I’ve had my ’97 KEI Honda ACTY for years. Fuel efficient 3cyl. Tagged and Insured. All steel. Right hand steering. Snug fit for a large person. No A/C. 4wd. 5 speed. It’ll go 60-70 if I want it to but it’s more comfortable at 45-50.
The bed measures 52×81. Slightly bigger than my son’s F150. I can easily haul plywood of drywall. I routinely put a roll of hay in it. 900lbs. And at my age, almost 70, it’s much easier to load a half dozen 5 gallon gas cans. I can’t see into my son’s F150 bed. Too tall.
I paid only $5000 for it.
In the reverse direction, Ford of Mexico used to make the B-100 as their answer to the Chevy Suburban and Dodge made a Ramcharger out of the mid 90s Ram pickup