Pick-up or pickup truck generally called as pickup, is a light motor vehicle with open top, rear cargo bed. In North America the word pickup is used for light trucks. Some countries have their own terms similar to pickup, such as "bakkie" in South Africa or "ute" in Australia & New Zealand.
The first pickup truck was built in 1896 by Gottlieb Daimler, pioneer German automotive maker. It had 4hp engine and a belt drive with two forward speeds and one reverse.
The First factory made pickup truck was a Ford model T Runabout with a cargo bed in the rear. Although it debuted in early 1925.
In Japan before the late 1990 many pickup trucks were sold as private or commercial vehicles use, and were also exported to many countries. But in the 1990s, the popularity of pickup trucks in the Japan local market has decreased in favour of sport utility vehicles (SUV). Many makers had to discontinue them from their lineup becuase of high taxes and decrease in demand.
While pickups are commonly used by trades people all over the world, they are popular as personal transport in Australia, USA and Canada, where they share some of the image of the SUV and are commonly criticised on similar grounds. They have many uses like Military use, Racing trucks, Campers, Fire vehicle, Law enforcement.
They are available in number of different sizes and features to suit all needs like Mini pickups, Compact pickup, Mid-size pickup, Full-size pickup, Heavy Duty pickup trucks, Muscle trucks, Sport utility trucks, Off-Road Trucks, Coupé utilities & coupe pickup etc.
Some of popular used pickup trucks exports from Japan to Africa, Australia, Kenya, Caribbean and other part of the world are :
