Maybe you remember all the hullabaloo about a Caterpillar pickup a couple of years back. People were going crazy over AI-generated images showing trucks with CAT badges and yellow and black paint schemes. We shot those down and called them what they were, only for a Caterpillar employee to contact us directly and say that it was “more than a rumor.”
As it turns out, this is what they were working on.
It’s obviously a Ford Super Duty, and Caterpillar isn’t trying too hard to hide that. Images from the show floor at this week’s ConExpo-Con/AGG event in Las Vegas reveal that a Ford logo still pops up on the infotainment screen. But everywhere from the grille to the steering wheel and tailgate features CAT branding.
Your Truck — Equipped With Cat® Technology
CAT published a press release about the truck, calling out the buzz created by goofballs with earlier AI image generators specifically.
“You couldn’t look away, and we couldn’t either,” the release reads. “Thousands of inquiries flooded in from customers, contractors, and equipment owners with one simple question: ‘What would a Cat Truck really be like?’
“They dreamed of torque and towing power. Those were the easy parts for Caterpillar, so we went further to see how we could help them even more. We dreamed of a tech-forward system that would transform every jobsite.
“So, we did something bold. We built it.”
The rig features a highfalutin tech suite with a drone-launching station, a driver-fatigue monitoring system, camera detection when personnel are too close to machines, and an additional interior display that runs CAT’s AI assistant and VisionLink Productivity. Effectively, it’s a control center for busy construction bosses who have multiple projects to keep an eye on.
Something like this makes more sense coming from CAT. Obviously, though, it’s not as exciting as a ground-up pickup design with an in-house-developed engine. After all, an internal source from the manufacturer reached out to us in 2024, saying engine liners were actively being built for the project. They claimed that V6 and V8 variants were being considered, with potential prices ranging from $59,000 to $69,000 for the former and $89,000 for the latter.
Alas, I think this is all we’re going to get.
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