Ford Ranger, Raptor or F-150 - which is the ultimate ute icon?

Ford has unveiled an all new pick-up truck concept - and it could be coming to a keyboard near you soon.

The US automotive giant is getting serious about pick-up representation in the digital world - unveiling its plans to introduce a ute emoji. Ford's interpretation of the ultimate pick-up/ute in emoji form is coloured blue and appears to be sporting an Extra Cab body style as part of celebrations for World Emoji Day.

Currently people have plenty of automotive emoji choice including a generic sedan, hatchback, truck, ambulance, fire truck, police car and bus, but Ford wants to get the iconic load-hauler included.

The company submitted its concept to the Unicode Consortium - the global organisation responsible for choosing emojis - in 2018 and has confirmed it has been short-listed for inclusion on smartphones around the world in 2020.

“When customers started demanding a truck emoji, we knew we had to help make it happen,” said Ford president Joe Hinrichs. “Given the popularity of Ford trucks globally, there’s no one better than Ford to help bring an all-new pickup truck emoji to hard-working texters around the globe.”

Ford's pick-up/ute emoji is coloured blue and appears in Extra Cab body style as part of celebrations for World Emoji Day.

While it’s all a bit of fun, Ford did splash out on a seriously impressive video to promote its emoji concept, drafting in Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston to voice an elaborate video showing Ford’s designers sketching the emoji, creating a clay model, testing it in a wind tunnel and even putting it through its paces on road where apparently it can only “go left”.

However, Ford North America’s design director Craig Metros did say his team got serious about trying to create a pick-up emoji that would appeal to all users.

“Our team spent a lot of time digging through message boards, texting influencers and watching social media feeds to really understand our customers’ needs,” he said. “People want a truck emoji that’s fresh, stylish, carries their ideas, and ‘tows’ the line on what a truck means. The end result is a modern icon that should give all truck fans a smiley face emoji.”

If the Ford pick-up emoji is selected by the Unicode Consortium it will be part of the Emoji 13.0 update releasing early in 2020. However, it will need to beat out its rivals that include a boomerang, roller skates, military helmet, magic wand, seal, bison and a teapot - to name a few.

Would you use a ute emoji? Tell us what automotive emoji you'd like to see in the comments below.