The 2025 Caterpillar pickup truck looks phenomenal — futuristic even. Painted in a metallic gold color with black accents, the truck features an industrial design that blends Caterpillar's traditionally rugged aesthetic with a sleek and modern look. The interior is arguably even more impressive. It looks spacious and comfortable, with a gorgeous display and built-in 3D projector. The seats, constructed with memory foam, feature heating and cooling options that can be activated through voice commands.
What's under the hood is even more impressive. The vehicle is powered by a 6.7-liter turbo diesel V8 engine capable of producing approximately 500 horsepower and 1,000 pound-feet of torque. But that's just scratching the surface. In video after video, the 2025 Caterpillar pickup truck is described as one of the most powerful pick up trucks ever built, a technological marvel, and a vehicle that could change the industry forever.
There is just one small problem with the 2025 Caterpillar pickup truck: It does not exist. It is completely made up. The images and videos that have gone viral are all AI-generated. How did this happen, and why are so many people falling for it? We've done our own investigation. Read on to discover the real truth behind the 2025 Caterpillar pickup that never was.
The Fake Caterpillar Pickup Truck: Unmasking the AI Deception
When you're watching a YouTube video, and you're being shown one image after another while the narrator is raving about a vehicle that is about to change the world, it's easy to get so mesmerized that you miss critical details. Take a look at the YouTube still above — it was taken from this video. The pickup truck in the picture, without a doubt, looks real. But when you pause the video and take a closer look, you immediately notice that something is off.
Take a look at the sign displayed on the grille, for example. It's obviously supposed to say "CAT," but it does not. As impressive as they are, the generative AI tools we currently have at our disposal are not without their flaws. The letters are distorted, which is an obvious sign that the image is AI-generated. Just like how AI struggles to generate convincing images of human hands, it also struggles to generate text in visual form.
If you zoom out, you'll also notice that the lighting and shadows look a bit off. The background elements are inconsistent as well, and the wheels look strange. More importantly, as you watch the video, you'll notice other inconsistencies, with the design being different from shot to shot.
Why Is This AI Deception So Convincing?
When coming across images and videos of a cool new vehicle, the first thing you probably do is google it. If you type "2025 Caterpillar Truck" in Google's search bar, you'll notice that the first page of the search results is flooded with images and videos. This may vary depending on your location and other factors, but a few news stories and articles might also appear.
The point being, if you're not paying close attention, nothing suggests that this isn't a real, upcoming product. When you dig deeper, however, it becomes clear that it is fake. Most of the YouTube videos that Google serves weren't uploaded by reputable news organizations or automotive blogs but by random content creators. Some of these channels may have legitimate videos and large followings, but they're clearly peddling disinformation. Additionally, most of these videos seem to use AI-generated voiceovers, and it's difficult to imagine a legitimate channel doing that. Even though YouTube committed last year to amplifying authoritative sources, these fake and misleading videos clearly still slip under the radar.
Legitimate news outlets aren't reporting on the 2025 Caterpillar Truck, and you won't see any mention of this futuristic vehicle if you head over to Caterpillar's official website or social media pages. Indeed, it would be sensational if the 2025 Caterpillar pickup was real. But it simply is not.
The Caterpillar Pickup: A Missed Opportunity for the Industry Giant
On paper, the Caterpillar Pickup checks all the boxes but one big one. On the positive side, it is an automotive marvel. It is really good looking and has a far more classic pickup truck appearance than the Tesla Cybertruck monstrosity. It is designed for work but looks really nice. It has impressive ground clearance, built-in step rail, a really nice functional truck bed with multiple 120-volt plugs, an engineering wonder of a tail-gate that splits horizontally, decent (for a truck) aerodynamics, an integrated hidden winch, a huge cab, and some interesting power options that include a 500 HP Diesel with 1,000 lb. of Torque, a hybrid version with 450 HP and 600 lb. of Torque with an optimal 40-mile electric range, and an electric version with 600 HP and 850 lb. of torque (available at 0 RPMs) and a up to 300 miles of range.
Other features include Caterpillar’s sophisticated thermal management system assuring the truck never overheats, exhaust braking typically not something you get on a pickup truck, class-leading gas efficiency for the diesel and gas engine options, a heads-up display for the instruments, an impressively nice interior, Generative AI voice command system with natural language processing (you don’t have to learn the commands), 360-degree cameras, load adaptive control that automatically adjusts the suspension depending on load, an advanced level 2+ self-driving similar to Tesla, an automatic crash detection and response system which will work even if you don’t have cell phone service (satellite) and it works with the engine immobilizer preventing theft, and impressive performance..
Performance for the V8 diesel gives a decent 5.5 second 0-60, while the electric version gives a sports car level 4 second 0-60 time. Both the electric and hybrid versions have one of the most advanced regenerative braking systems in the world. Given this is a segment-leading offering pricing starting at $65K is surprisingly reasonable though you can get up to $90K pretty fast depending on how you option the truck out.
The Caterpillar Pickup: A Story of Missed Opportunities
The Truck is awesome, but there is one big problem.
That problem brings me back to another really nice truck for its time, the International Scout. We had one on the farm my family used to run and my best friend growing up had one as well, and they were both awesome trucks, and I liked the vehicle better than the Jeep I drove at the time. It was sturdy, incredibly reliable, and better designed than most of its peers. So why did it fail?
The International Scout had one huge drawback and that was you had to get its services at an International Harvester dealership. These dealerships weren’t set up for cars, they serviced commercial vehicles. Commercial vehicles tend to be trucked into the site for work or serviced on location due to their size and a small truck didn’t really fit the model. Granted the vehicles, much like I expect the Caterpillar Truck will be, were incredibly reliable. I mean we had a Caterpillar tractor that got covered with water when a dike burst, and the damn thing worked when the water receded. If the same thing had happened to a typical pickup, it would have been totaled.
But even though our Scout was a farm vehicle and we had other International Harvester products, servicing the Scout, as rare as that event was, wasn’t as easy as say getting one of the Ford or GM trucks services and we already used International Harvester services, for someone that didn’t it was far more difficult the dealers weren’t located in city centers but out in rural areas that were somewhat difficult to get to. No waiting rooms because people don’t wait for industrial equipment, and the sales staff is used to selling high-ticket industrial hardware, not cars, so they weren’t that motivated to sell low-ticket items.
So, the weakness in the Caterpillar Pickup has nothing to do with the truck, which on spec, is more advanced, more capable, and given it is from Caterpillar, more reliable than any other vehicle in its class, but how people will get the truck serviced.
Tesla's Approach: A Model for Caterpillar?
When Tesla first came out, they were sold in storefronts and if you needed service they’d come by and either fix the car or swap it for a loaner and take the car to be fixed. This process could work for Caterpillar as well, particularly given the expected high reliability of the vehicle once it gets through the typical issues surrounding any brand-new design.
If they can solve the sales a service problem of an industrial equipment maker selling a consumer product (granted they will target professionals and existing customers first) they have a winner in this vehicle, but if they don’t learn from the International Harvester Scout, as good as this vehicle is, it will fail in the market. I’m personally hoping they work this out because this truck is simply AWESOME!
