Vehicle tracking and detection plays an important role in traffic surveillance, still a crucial task in many applications. Till now, there is no standard method developed. Template matching is one of the methods used for vehicle detection and tracking. There are several researchers and developers worked on this area. Robust and reliable vehicle detection is a critical step of vehicle recognition. This paper presents a review of recent template matching methods for detection and tracking of vehicle. Our focus is on systems where the camera is mounted on the vehicle and being fixed such as in traffic/driveway monitoring systems. We discuss the general template matching followed by problem of on-road vehicle detection using template matching. Also, discuss vehicle recognition through number plate and ways. Finally, we present a critical overview of the methods discussed, and we assess their potential for future deployment, and we present directions for future research.