A pickup truck or ute is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area.
In North America, the word pickup generally refers to a small or medium sized truck. This light commercial vehicle features:
Instead of a well-type bed (short rigid sides) with an opening rear gate, some pickups have a flat tray back (a.k.a. flatbed). Others may have a specialty body mounted behind the cabin.
Two North American vehicles, the Chevrolet El Camino and Ford Ranchero are not technically trucks. This is because the have a spot welded sheet steel monocoque chassis in the same style as modern passenger cars. Trucks on the other hand usually have a heavy 'C' section rail chassis with a fully floating cab and separate cargo section. The sheet steel in both of these sections is not a stressed member. A combination of the two styles, monocoque cab and engine bay welded to a 'c' section chassis rear is offered in Australia. It is known as the 'one tonner' because it is rated to carry some more than the all monocoque style.
A vehicle like the Holden Ute and FPV Pursuit, colloquially called a ute or utility (from "Coupe utility"), in Australia and New Zealand, is known in North America as a pickoupe in South Africa as a bakkie (pronounced "bucky"), in Egypt as "half truck", and in Israel as a tender. Panel vans, popular in Australia during the 1970s, were based on ute chassis; known in Egypt as "box".
The design details of such vehicles vary significantly, and different nationalities seem to specialise in different styles and sizes of vehicles. For instance, North American pickups come in full-size (large, heavy vehicles often with V8 or six-cylinder engines), mid-size, and compact (smaller trucks generally equipped with inline 4 engines).
