When we see overseas pickup modifications or designs, we always sigh, why haven't domestic pickup companies officially launched these cars? Actually, domestic car companies also have a deep understanding of pickup modifications, but constrained by various regulations, many very interesting models cannot be mass-produced, which is indeed a pity. However, I believe that with the progress and iteration of regulations, these types of vehicles will eventually gain recognition from the management and be legally allowed on the road. So today let's take a look at what very interesting but not mass-produced pickup products there are domestically.

3 Types of 6-Wheel Pickups:
BJ80 6x6 Pickup Version, Wuling Hongguang MINI EV 6-Wheel Pickup, Great Wall Cannon CYBERP!CKUP Chaojing Co-Creation Edition
In the past when domestic pickups were not blooming everywhere, when we saw high-definition large pictures of those overseas high-performance cars, Mercedes-Benz 6x6 often appeared. This pickup almost became the ultimate dream model for many people, little did we know that multiple 6x6 pickup products had also appeared in our country.
The earliest one is the BJ80 6x6 pickup from Beijing Automotive Group at that time. At the 2018 Beijing Auto Show, BAIC launched this tall and mighty pickup built on the BJ80. It added a rear axle on the original car basis, and the rear part was changed to an open cargo box style, becoming a 6-wheel pickup. The power part adopts a plug-in hybrid system. The last axle is driven by a motor, but there is also a drive shaft from the middle axle to the last axle. Moreover, all wheels of this car used portal axles to increase ground clearance. The rear two axles use a helical spring multi-link structure. The car attracted many people's attention at the auto show scene at that time, but based on the market situation at the time, it was destined to be just for display purposes and cannot be mass-produced.




At the 2020 Chengdu Auto Show, another 6x6 pickup product appeared, and this car was even less likely to be mass-produced than the previously introduced BJ80 6x6. It is the Wuling Hongguang MINI EV Special Edition. This is because Wuling Hongguang MINI EV was sold extremely hotly that year, it is an absolute internet-famous product. So Wuling took advantage of the heat and jointly launched this 6-wheel heavily modified pickup with a modifier, used for promotion and attraction at the auto show.



This small 6-wheel pickup added a cargo box design on the original car basis, and to carry this cargo box, an axle was added directly to the rear, forming the form of a 6-wheel pickup. From the chassis form, this car still retains the original drive form, "middle axle" motor drive. With such a small volume and load capacity, it is absolutely impossible to mass-produce.

The most hopeful mass production one is the Great Wall Cannon 6x6 model CYBERP!CKUP co-created with Chaojing launched by Great Wall Cannon at the 2023 Shanghai Auto Show. This car is said to come from the first Chinese 6X6 super off-road platform built by Great Wall, which will break the situation of foreign enterprises dominating 6x6. This car is equipped with a 3.0T V6+9HAT hybrid system, outputting 260kW/500N・m, pure electric range 110km (CLTC), comprehensive fuel consumption 8.5L/100km. In terms of off-road configuration, standard equipment includes 5 electronic differential locks, all-terrain adaptive system can realize 8 road conditions, and equipped with 33-inch Cooper AT3 tires. Because it is a hybrid model, considering battery safety, the battery group is 750mm off the ground to prevent collision, and the vehicle can also achieve 3.3kW external discharge to meet camping power consumption.



Whether looking from the publicity direction, or from the so transparent release of specific vehicle parameters, Great Wall obviously intended to mass-produce it; but to this day there is no specific mass production news, which is bound to make people regret.
Great Wall Cannon Hypercar Pickup
As the leader of domestic pickups, Great Wall Pickup is absolutely all-around in "showcasing creativity". Previously we introduced 6-wheel pickups, and at the 2021 Guangzhou Auto Show, a Great Wall Cannon Hypercar Pickup was also launched. So Great Wall Pickup has not only products in the "off-road performance direction", but also works in the "track performance direction".

This Hypercar Pickup also had a naming activity at that time, expected to be listed in the "Bullet" series. The car has an ultra-wide widebody kit, and the body height is reduced, presenting a low-slung style overall. This modification style has relatively faithful fans in Thailand, and its appearance in China is the top pickup modification. The engine hood middle part rises, with air intake holes. The front bar, wheel arches, side skirts, and rear are equipped with widebody kits, making the horizontal visual of the whole car look very wide. Front and rear wheels also adopted the multi-spoke style commonly used in performance cars, matched with 285/40R22 tires, and the front wheels have a slight outward angle, improving the cornering stability of the whole vehicle.


The rear cargo box of the vehicle has a sports roll cage, and there is also a spoiler commonly used in performance cars on the top and above the tailgate, plus a huge diffuser in the middle of the rear bar, giving the whole car better aerodynamic structure and also more aesthetically pleasing. The bottom of the cargo box has a huge dual-side dual-out exhaust, looking full of performance. If this car can be mass-produced, it will definitely be a very personalized product in the performance car field, and will definitely expand influence, bringing pickups into the market of track performance cars.


Jiangxi Isuzu Fulfiller (D-MAX Modified Crawler Vehicle)
In addition to domestic brands, joint-venture pickups have also launched some interesting products in China. D-MAX has always been a favorite of many off-road players. Even if the manufacturer does not launch modified cars, there are also many experts in the civilian sector modifying D-MAX that look very good. But the manufacturer still wants to build a brand image in terms of off-road, so D-MAX modified cars can often be seen at auto shows.

At the 2020 Chengdu Auto Show, Jiangxi Isuzu displayed a D-MAX track vehicle, named Fulfiller. The upper part of the whole vehicle basically has no big change, the shape still retains the factory design. A luggage rack was added to the roof, a gantry was added to the rear, and there is a snorkel on the right, very much off-road style. The place that makes it more "wild" is mainly the lower part.


The tire part was directly changed to tracks, increasing the contact area with the road surface, making the vehicle less prone to getting stuck. The track wheels are directly connected on the factory flange, with a huge gear shape driving the tracks to roll. The fixing device of the tracks is connected to the suspension. Such a design should have greater usage value in mud and snow, and the visual impact is also comparable to 6-wheel pickups. If this pickup can really be mass-produced, then this car should be often seen galloping in the winter of the northern grasslands.

Summary:
It is not that domestic enterprises do not have innovation and creativity awareness, from the above models, it can be seen that pickups still have huge potential in modification, and modifications in all directions can extend imaginative schemes. But due to restrictions in various aspects, it led to these cars not being able to go from the showroom to mass production, which is also a very regrettable thing. Do you think these pickups are interesting? Welcome to discuss with us in the comments section.

The electrification transformation of mainstream Japanese pickups has finally taken a substantial step. Recently, according to foreign media reports, Mitsubishi Motors has confirmed the launch of a hybrid version of the Triton pickup, this model will go into mass production along with the new Pajero hybrid SUV through the electrification upgrade of its Thailand production base. For this, Mitsubishi plans to add a 16 billion baht investment in the Thailand factory, aiming to build it into a global export hub for electrified pickups and rugged SUVs by 2030.

The first mass-produced version will be the HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle) version of the Triton, subsequently, further progress will be made on the R&D of PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) and even fully electric pickups based on battery technology iterations and global market demand. Mitsubishi Global Engineering and Product Strategy Head previously clearly stated, the hybrid solution can be directly compatible with the existing body-on-frame platform, requiring no large-scale modifications to the chassis or underframe structure, resulting in lower short-term implementation costs, and better ensuring the heavy-load capacity and off-road reliability of the pickup models, making it the most pragmatic technical path at present.

Notably, Mitsubishi did not adopt the e-Power extended-range technology from alliance partner Nissan, instead choosing to independently develop a hybrid system exclusive to pickups, the core purpose is to retain the core performance attributes of rugged pickups, avoiding sacrificing load capacity, towing capability, and off-pavement adaptability due to electrification.

Mitsubishi's acceleration of pickup electrification is essentially a market choice forced by the wave of Chinese new energy pickups going overseas. Taking Australia, a global core pickup market, as an example, in 2025 the Mitsubishi Triton sales ranked 17th; while the BYD Shark 6 plug-in hybrid pickup caught up in just one year, ranking 18th. Apart from BYD, the Great Wall Cannon Alpha plug-in version has also landed in the Australian market, combined with the entry of the Ford Ranger plug-in version, the Australian pickup market originally monopolized by diesel power has seen electrification competition fully start.

Unlike Chinese brands that generally prioritize layouts of plug-in hybrids and pure electric routes, Mitsubishi chooses to enter the pickup track from hybrid electric, which fits the core demands of traditional pickup users for reliability and low operating costs, and also avoids the pain points of insufficient charging infrastructure in remote mining areas and off-road scenarios. However, this conservative route also faces challenges: current Chinese brand plug-in hybrid pickups have already achieved technical advantages of all-electric range over 100 km and combined range exceeding 1,000 km, price ranges continue to drop, further squeezing the survival space of traditional diesel pickups.

Conclusion: For Mitsubishi, electrification upgrades are not only a mandatory choice to respond to global emission regulations but also a core layout to resist the overseas expansion of Chinese pickups. With the promotion of the Triton hybrid version, the global mid-size pickup market will welcome a direct confrontation between Japanese hybrids and Chinese plug-in hybrids. The debate on pickup electrification technical routes will also extend from sales competition at the market end to the long-term game of technical paths.

Under the combined pull of new energy transition and growth in overseas demand, pickup market sales grew steadily. Wholesale data from China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) shows (including exports), from January to June 2026, cumulative pickup sales in China reached 343,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 11.9%, among which exports were 188,000 units, up 34% year-on-year. The overseas sales share rose to 55%, becoming an important engine driving overall growth; cumulative new energy pickup sales reached 45,000 units, a slight increase of 8% year-on-year.

In terms of corporate performance, the top 10 pickup manufacturers in the first half of 2026 showed distinct differentiation. Great Wall Motor sold a total of 92,512 pickups, a slight year-on-year decline of 3.9%, but remained number one in the industry. SAIC Maxus accumulated 36,804 units, up 28.1% year-on-year, rising from third place last year to second. Changan Automobile totaled 35,734 units, up 43.9% year-on-year, ranking rising to third in the industry. JAC and Zhengzhou Nissan had similar sales volumes, ranking fourth and fifth respectively. Among them, Zhengzhou Nissan led the top ten industry enterprises with a 51% year-on-year increase.
JMC ranked sixth with 28,704 units, and Foton ranked seventh with 23,288 units; BYD sales were 20,037 units, ranking eighth; Radar New Energy sales were 11,111 units, up 40.5% year-on-year, surpassing Jiangxi Isuzu to take ninth and tenth seats respectively.
Compared to the list from the same period last year, market positions showed significant adjustments. Companies that expanded overseas early and had complete new energy products achieved rapid growth. Brands focusing mainly on the domestic fuel market and with lagging transformation progress faced sales pressure. The pickup industry competitive landscape is undergoing a structural adjustment.
In the first half of 2026, pickup wholesale sales in China generally rose. As the industry leader, Great Wall Motor sold a total of 92,512 pickups in the first half. Despite a 3.9% year-on-year decline, it still ranks first in the industry with absolute advantage. As a leading domestic pickup brand, Great Wall Motor relies on a full series product layout in the 70,000-300,000 price range, advancing together in commercial, passenger, off-road, new energy, and export fields, building a systemic advantage.

SAIC Maxus, ranked second, sold a total of 36,804 pickups in the first half, up 28.1% year-on-year, rising from third place in the industry last year to second. The continuous expansion of export advantages was key to SAIC Maxus's ranking leap. In May, the pickup export scale reached first place in the industry. The monthly sales in June reached 7,871 units, up 83% year-on-year, leading the growth speed in the domestic pickup sub-sectors.
Changan Automobile's market performance was equally bright. Cumulative pickup sales in the first half reached 35,734 units, up 43.9% year-on-year, jumping from sixth place in the industry last year to third. In March, Changan pickup monthly sales exceeded 10,000 units, up 112.4% year-on-year; June sales reached 6,595 units, up 42.7%. The launch of new products such as Changan Hunter K50, combined with continuous expansion of the export market, jointly drove the rebound of Changan pickups.
JAC Pickup, ranked fourth, sold 33,188 units in the first half, a slight increase of 0.8% year-on-year. Long-term deep dive into agriculture, forestry, engineering, and commercial sub-sectors, stable existing customers, but new energy model iteration speed is relatively slow, insufficient new volume support, exiting the top three in the industry.
Zhengzhou Nissan ranks fifth in the industry. Sales were 32,987 units in the first half, up 51% year-on-year. The brand concurrently advanced off-road, new energy, and internationalization layouts. Updated King Ray and Navara fuel models within the year; launched Fengtian plug-in hybrid and Ruiqi pure electric pickups to perfect the power matrix; new energy model sales increase was prominent, Fengtian series went overseas in batches and secured orders from multiple South American countries. Products and overseas channels jointly drove sales growth.

JMC sold 28,704 pickups in the first half, up 1.0% year-on-year. Ranking dropped from fourth place last year to sixth. In the first half, JMC launched two core models: the brand new Baodian and Dadao. But it did not reverse the market landscape. The brand new Baodian faces intense price competition in the commercial tool vehicle market; although the Dadao series saw obvious product capability upgrades, the launch time was late, combined with poor export performance, overall sales faced pressure.
Foton Motor sold 23,288 pickups in the first half, up 21.6% year-on-year, ranking seventh. Exports became the main driver of Foton pickup growth. Public data shows that from January to May 2026, pickup exports exceeded 15,000 units, growing rapidly year-on-year, focusing on deepening regional markets such as Latin America, Africa, and Oceania.
BYD sold 20,037 pickups in the first half, down 25.8% year-on-year. Ranking dropped from fifth place last year to eighth. As a new entrant in the pickup industry, BYD previously relied mainly on overseas exports to drive sales, but since 2026, competition in export markets has intensified. Combined with its "Shark" pickup not yet scaling up domestically, overall sales faced pressure. However, from a new energy dimension, BYD remains an important force in the pickup market. In June, new energy pickup overseas sales reached 4,000 units, maintaining leadership in the new energy pickup sub-sector.

Radar New Energy, under Geely, sold 11,111 pickups in the first half, up 40.5% year-on-year, surpassing Jiangxi Isuzu to rise to ninth place in the industry. This year, Geely Radar launched the King Kong EV pure electric pickup, supplying nationwide markets for commercial scenarios such as agriculture, forestry, and urban-rural distribution. It simultaneously laid out Thailand and Philippines overseas markets, achieving continuous rise in sub-sector market share.
Jiangxi Isuzu sold 11,008 pickups in the first half, a slight decrease of 0.8% year-on-year, falling back to tenth place in the industry. Jiangxi Isuzu relies on diesel hard-core pickups to stabilize engineering and off-road fixed customers, but development has multiple constraints: vehicle iteration update rhythm is relatively slow, new energy model implementation progress lags behind peers, meanwhile product pricing lacks competitiveness, lacking effective volume support, overall growth space is hard to open.


Owl Auto News (ID:owlauto) reported that recently, Geely Auto issued an announcement, stating an investment of approximately 218 million yuan to fully acquire Radar Auto (Shandong) Co., Ltd., Radar Auto Sales Co., Ltd., and the Thailand distribution company Radar Thailand. Among them, Zhejiang Jirun acquired 100% equity of Radar Auto (Shandong) for 159 million yuan, Geely Sales acquired all equity of Radar Auto Sales for 59 million yuan, and CIL and GAIL under Geely acquired all share capital of Radar Thailand totaling 490,000 yuan. After the transaction, the three companies officially became wholly-owned subsidiaries of Geely Auto, with financial performance merged into the listed company's reports, marking the formal transfer of Radar Auto from the Geely Holdings system to the unified control of the Geely Auto listed company.

It is reported that the three targets form the complete chain of the Radar brand from R&D and manufacturing to sales and distribution. Specifically, Radar Auto (Shandong) is the core operating entity of the brand, specializing in R&D and manufacturing of mid-to-high-end new energy pickups, with production bases located at Zibo Zichuan Smart Factory; Radar Auto Sales is responsible for domestic sales system operation and dealer layout; Radar Thailand was established in Thailand in July 2024, it is Radar's first independently operated overseas subsidiary, focusing on distribution in the Thai and Southeast Asian markets.
In terms of performance, the three companies showed significant divergence in 2025. Radar Auto (Shandong) turned from profit to loss, with a net loss of 8.646 million yuan, compared to a profit of 67.743 million yuan in the same period last year; Radar Auto Sales turned loss to profit, with net profit of 12.325 million yuan, compared to a loss of 118 million yuan in the same period last year; Radar Thailand expanded losses, with a net loss of 10.697 million yuan. Despite this, Radar Auto's full-year sales in 2025 still reached 13,040 units, achieving year-on-year growth, ranking high in market share in the domestic new energy pickup market. At the March 2026 Bangkok International Motor Show, Radar King Kong EV received 2,569 orders, a year-on-year increase of 283%.
For Geely, this integration is a key layout to cope with intense industry competition. Radar can share Geely's R&D system, Geely Thunder EM-P super electric hybrid technology, supply chain and manufacturing bases, effectively reducing costs; Geely can coordinate multi-brand planning, avoid internal competition, while integrating Radar's domestic and international full-channel resources, leveraging the opportunities in the new energy pickup sector, further perfecting its global new energy vehicle landscape. As for whether this acquisition will ultimately bring good results to Geely as expected, it will take time to give an answer.


Owl Auto News (ID:owlauto) reported that recently, Geely Auto issued an announcement, stating an investment of approximately 218 million yuan to fully acquire Radar Auto (Shandong) Co., Ltd., Radar Auto Sales Co., Ltd., and the Thailand distribution company Radar Thailand. Among them, Zhejiang Jirun acquired 100% equity of Radar Auto (Shandong) for 159 million yuan, Geely Sales acquired all equity of Radar Auto Sales for 59 million yuan, and CIL and GAIL under Geely acquired all share capital of Radar Thailand totaling 490,000 yuan. After the transaction, the three companies officially became wholly-owned subsidiaries of Geely Auto, with financial performance merged into the listed company's reports, marking the formal transfer of Radar Auto from the Geely Holdings system to the unified control of the Geely Auto listed company.

It is reported that the three targets form the complete chain of the Radar brand from R&D and manufacturing to sales and distribution. Specifically, Radar Auto (Shandong) is the core operating entity of the brand, specializing in R&D and manufacturing of mid-to-high-end new energy pickups, with production bases located at Zibo Zichuan Smart Factory; Radar Auto Sales is responsible for domestic sales system operation and dealer layout; Radar Thailand was established in Thailand in July 2024, it is Radar's first independently operated overseas subsidiary, focusing on distribution in the Thai and Southeast Asian markets.
In terms of performance, the three companies showed significant divergence in 2025. Radar Auto (Shandong) turned from profit to loss, with a net loss of 8.646 million yuan, compared to a profit of 67.743 million yuan in the same period last year; Radar Auto Sales turned loss to profit, with net profit of 12.325 million yuan, compared to a loss of 118 million yuan in the same period last year; Radar Thailand expanded losses, with a net loss of 10.697 million yuan. Despite this, Radar Auto's full-year sales in 2025 still reached 13,040 units, achieving year-on-year growth, ranking high in market share in the domestic new energy pickup market. At the March 2026 Bangkok International Motor Show, Radar King Kong EV received 2,569 orders, a year-on-year increase of 283%.
For Geely, this integration is a key layout to cope with intense industry competition. Radar can share Geely's R&D system, Geely Thunder EM-P super electric hybrid technology, supply chain and manufacturing bases, effectively reducing costs; Geely can coordinate multi-brand planning, avoid internal competition, while integrating Radar's domestic and international full-channel resources, leveraging the opportunities in the new energy pickup sector, further perfecting its global new energy vehicle landscape. As for whether this acquisition will ultimately bring good results to Geely as expected, it will take time to give an answer.

In April 2026, the Thailand automotive market presented an extreme polarization pattern: total new car sales 48,394 units, year-on-year growth 2.54%, pure electric vehicle sales surged 90.61%, SUV year-on-year growth 23.91%, but one-ton pickup sales were only 9,950 units, plummeting 29.7% from March, down 5.84% year-on-year, becoming the only core sub-segment with negative growth. Thus, January-April 2026 Thailand pickup cumulative sales 48,802 units, the decline compared to the same period last year widened further, the annual target of 171,000 units (2024 new low) predicted by ttb analytics was precarious, actual sales are highly likely to drop below 165,000 units.

Although the duopoly structure has not shaken, the 'precipitous' drop of top models is no longer in doubt. Toyota Hilux Travo/Revo April sales 5,104 units, down 27.1% from previous month, January-April cumulative 23,098 units, market share slightly rose to 51.3%; Isuzu D-MAX followed closely, April sales 3,469 units, plummeted 25.2% from previous month, cumulative 17,760 units, market share 34.9%. The two Japanese brands combined still accounted for 86.2% of the share, but the significant shrinkage in absolute sales indicates that even top products with the most complete dealer networks and highest residual values cannot withstand systemic risks.

The rest of the traditional fuel brands suffered a complete defeat: Ford Ranger nearly halved month-on-month, Mitsubishi Triton plummeted 63.7%, Nissan Navara has basically withdrawn from mainstream competition.

Chinese brand performance showed significant divergence. Pure electric pickup leader Geely Radar RD6 April sales 85 units, down 24.8% month-on-month, but the drop was far smaller than most fuel models, January-April cumulative 327 units, continued to hold the top spot among Chinese brands and the first place in the pure electric pickup sub-market. Great Wall Cannon Sahar became one of the few models growing against the trend, April sales 34 units, surged 142.9% month-on-month, but the base was extremely low and scale has not yet formed. Other Chinese brands continued to face pressure: Foton e-Tunland down 61.5% month-on-month, MG Extender plummeted 71.4%.

This divergence between pickups and the overall Thailand car market is essentially the conflict between production tool attributes and consumption upgrade trends, compounded by multiple policy and economic shocks:


Final Thoughts: Looking forward, the turning point for the Thailand pickup market has yet to appear, the golden age of traditional diesel pickups has ended. Low-carbon transformation has become the only way out for the industry, and Chinese new energy pickups represented by Radar RD6, with differentiated product positioning and technical advantages, are expected to seize the initiative during the market restructuring process, becoming a key force to break the long-term Japanese monopoly structure.
