There is actually a fair amount of competition from Japan. The Toyota Tundra/Tacoma, Nissan Titan/Frontier, and Honda Ridgeline are all popular and in some ways better trucks than their American counterparts. I think many "truck people" are also people who tend to prefer domestically-made goods; in the same way that people shopping at Home Depot are more likely to buy products with the "Made in the USA" sticker on them.

The Tundra is the only full-size truck made in Texas.

The Titan is made in Mississippi.

The Ridgeline in Alabama.

Those who identify as Republicans seem to indicate willingness to pay more for Made in USA than Democrats according to the polls I've seen.

https://morningconsult.com/2017/11/21/poll-support-for-purch...

https://morningconsult.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/171016...

There's a bit of irony in that the Japanese car companies make all their cars (destined for the US market) in the US, whereas the American car companies tend to prefer Mexico.

In fact the 2019 Honda Ridgeline has more American content than any other pickup, US brands included.

https://news.pickuptrucks.com/2019/06/2019-honda-ridgeline-i...

Add to that the hardcore brand loyalty a lot of truck owners seem to have, it really is surprising.

What else is really surprising to me is their resale value, especially when they are optioned with desirables such as 4x4 or a diesel powertrain; 10-15 year old Dodge Rams with the Cummins are still selling in the $10k+ range, with some of the nicer 10-year-old examples fetching closer to $20k, roughly half the original MSRP

The Tacoma (Japanese) is the best selling mid-size truck in the US. It isn't the lack of Japanese trucks.

If you have 2-3 provider and strong demand that is enough competition

I mean, they are.

But they’re trucks and not cars, so things randomly falling off is part of the appeal.