[wkat4242]

Yeah the oversized gas guzzlers of the US were never popular in Europe. They're hard to park here (parking bays are smaller), difficult to drive in narrow historical cities, expensive to fuel etc. And pick-ups are very unpopular here, unless you're a farmer there's no point in such a large open loading bed.

I remember choosing between a Nissan 100NX and a Ford Probe (both about 10 years old) but the latter had way worse fuel economy not being a Europe native model (though it wasn't really a US model either I think). Also the 100NX wasn't really a sports car, it was just a Nissan Sunny compact with a more sporty looking body and T-top. It was a super nice car though.

[thyristan]

> And pick-ups are very unpopular here, unless you're a farmer there's no point in such a large open loading bed.

And even if you are a farmer, an american pick-up seems to be a rare choice around here. If you see something pick-up-like, it's usually more a variant of UniMog https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unimog .

And for the "small-time farmer without enough money to buy lots of equipment" (rare nowadays), tractors with tons of included functions were often more practical: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fendt_GT (no english version, sorry). Since Germany is more dense and distances are smaller, low speed is less of an issue I guess, compared to the US. And you can pull real farm equipment, which a pick-up car usually cannot.

[wkat4242]

Yeah it's also that American pick-ups usually don't feature 4WD (unless as an even more expensive option) which is kinda a need if you're into farming. It's a weird niche for people that want to show they are outdoorsy somehow but aren't really.

And for people that just need to move a lot, having it exposed to the open air is usually a dealbreaker. Panelvans are much more popular for that. Or MPVs with removable seats.

I have seen other countries where they are popular though. Like in Australia where they call it a "Ute". But yes also a long-distance country like you say.

[defrost]

In our part of rural Australia ute (utility vehicle) is largely reserved for the classic Australian Ute (eg: 1974 HQ Holden Ute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cztnXaND-Xo) which is a non US car footprint that'd be at home in Europe, cut down from a family sedan to be a single front bench seat in a two door cab, with everything behind as a tray.

Other parts of Australia do vary

As such things get bigger, get more doors, and veer towards a US size they get called crew cabs, trucks, pickup's, etc.

The wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_(vehicle)

  Traditionally, the term referred to vehicles built on passenger car chassis and with the cargo tray integrated with the passenger body (coupé utility vehicles).
  However, present-day usage of the term "ute" in Australian English and New Zealand English has expanded to include any vehicle with an open cargo area at the rear, which would be called a pickup truck in other countries. 

doesn't speak for all Australians and veers toward city usage.

[Aloha]

The difference between a 2WD model and a 4WD model is about 10% (4k) on a base model 40,000 dollar truck.

They're all available with 4WD however.