--- title: "No, Caterpillar Is Definitely Not Making a Pickup Truck" date: "2024-09-03" modified: "2024-09-03" authors: - name: "Adam Ismail" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/adam-ismail" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/no-caterpillar-is-definitely-not-making-a-pickup-truck" categories: - "News" - "Trucks" tags: - "pickup" --- # No, Caterpillar Is Definitely Not Making a Pickup Truck ![Collage of images of fake AI-made Caterpillar pickup trucks from TikTok.]() *\mgnewsbr, marcochavezz.pasion\_cat, automotivegen via TikTok\* When you want something to be true desperately enough, it can be hard to give up hope. Doubly so in this age of social media, [when some rumors]() are just so spicy that people refuse to stop peddling them, even when they're obviously false. One such rumor is construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar's supposed foray into the white-hot market of consumer pickup trucks. It's not happening, but that hasn't stopped the TikTokers, nor the articles on popular news hubs that thousands of people read every day. Let's put this one to bed, shall we? Far as we can tell, the hoax started sometime in May on TikTok, with a [number]() [of]() [posts]() all showing the same full-size truck aping the design of the [Ford F-150]() clad in Caterpillar's trademark yellow. It's not hard to pick out the flaws; besides the fact that the whole thing looks ridiculous and, again, is stealing F-150 design elements, the garbled text on the badges immediately gives away that the vehicle was created with generative AI. Looking even closer, a watermark that reads "Garagem Master" appears on many of these images. As you'd figure, it leads to the truck's creator. > [@mgnewsbr]() CATERPILLAR 2025 Quem mais quer uma dessa para seu sítio deixa uma curtida [#agro]() [#agroboy]() [#agroetop]() [#bolsonaro]() [#goias]() [#minasgerais]() [♬ Montagem Rave Eterno - Dj Samir & Fyex]() Turns out, Garagem Master is one of those websites that deals in pictures of AI-built atrocities like [Toyota Corolla Pickups](), [Honda Civic Convertibles](), and, amusingly enough, multiple revivals of the [Chevrolet Opala](). These self-described "concepts" form the bulk of the site's content, though every now and then, it does cover a real car. (Perhaps unsurprisingly, much of the time they tend to be Cybertrucks.) Anyway, images of our Cat Pickup here [first hit Garagem Master's website on April 26]() of this year. Titled an "automotive masterpiece" as well as a "futuristic vision that transcends the imaginable," several pictures of the fake truck appear in the article, and a few of them are clearly the same images but mirrored. Badges on the tailgate suggest the truck that'll leave Detroit shaking in its work boots will be called the "SNKE" or perhaps the "CNNAKE," while Caterpillar's abbreviated logo now reads "CACT" or "CATER" or even "CIA." These are the pictures that appear to have fueled the earliest social media traffic—but naturally, TikTok took that ball and ran like hell with it. Scanning the results that appear when you [search "caterpillar pickup" on TikTok](), sometimes the mythical truck looks like a Ford, other times a Chevy. But that's par for the course for gen AI, which [can only create a version of things it's seen before](). > [@marcochavezz.pasion\_cat]() Belleza caterpillar! [#pasion\_cat]() [#operadoresdemaquinariapesada]() [#operadoresdemaquinas]() [#imagenesconinteligenciaartificial]() [#inteligenciaartificial]() [#IA]() [#camionetas4x4]() [♬ original sound - funny.mey - funny.mey19]() After a whole summer incubating on the most viral of modern social media platforms, the hoax was syndicated by MSN from a publisher known as TORK US, which has posted at least two separate articles about the fake truck over four days. [The earlier story]() leaves no ambiguity that Caterpillar is "entering the pickup truck market with their new 2025 model," while Tork evidently chose to walk that back with [its more recent bulletin](), writing that "it's important to note that this is still just speculation" in an article titled "Will It Be Real? New CAT Truck Rumors Explained." Of course, it won't be real, and it was never going to be. Our friends at *[SlashGear]()* add that tall tales of the Cat Snake Truck have migrated to YouTube, too. Personally, I don't log onto Facebook at all these days except for work reasons, but I can only imagine this seemingly immortal rumor's crept into truck groups and the like on that platform as well. It's all inevitable, living through this era of early AI where people can invent whatever they want, but the public's literacy to suss out real from fake hasn't matured yet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVZCEu81CCc Believe me: Should the day ever come when Caterpillar gets into the passenger truck game, you'll hear about it before you see it. And if you do see it, the company will probably have the sense to spell its own brand name right. *Got a tip? Email us at tips@thedrive.com* ## Author Adam is a Senior Editor at The Drive, concentrating on curating and developing the site's slate of daily journalism, from initial pitch to final copy edit. When he's not at his desk researching leads and working with writers, he's testing vehicles or reviewing racing games, new and old. He joined The Drive in 2023, following seven years of covering consumer technology and cars. A car lover and gamer since his earliest memories, Adam came to know the automotive world through video games. First it was Daytona USA, Sega Rally, and Ridge Racer; then came Need For Speed, which inspired an encyclopedic knowledge of '90s supercars, and, of course, Gran Turismo. If not for them, he'd assuredly be doing something else right now. Adam is based in the suburbs outside Philly, where there are ample roads for his hot hatch to stretch its legs. In his car, he's probably listening to indie rock, drum and bass, or Yankees baseball. ### Author social links [Bluesky]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()