Honda is offering up a first teaser image of what will become its third-generation Ridgeline pickup. Expect the truck to arrive “within two years,’ the automaker said – which means a roughly one-year gap after the current Ridgeline ends production later this year. Headlight.News has more.
The original Honda Ridgeline generated plenty of controversy due to its quirky design and use of a unibody architecture.
Honda will bring back an all-new version of the midsize Ridgeline pickup “within two years,” the automaker said Thursday.
That means a lengthy gap for those fans of the Japanese truck, the current model set to go out of production later this year.
Few details are being released, though Honda Lance Woelfer, vice president of Auto Sales at American Honda Motor Co., said in a statement that the truck will “prioritiz(e) features and capabilities.” And the next-gen Ridgeline will again be produced at the Honda Alabama Auto Plant where the current model is assembled alongside products including the Pilot and Passport SUVs, as well as the Odyssey minivan.
What’s new
The current Honda Ridgeline.
In May Honda announced that the second-generation Ridgeline would end production late this year. The move was attributed to problems meeting strict California emissions rules with the truck’s V-6 engine. It said it expected to address that issue while also making other revisions to Ridgeline’s design and capabilities when it returns to market.
What precisely is in store? Honda’s not directly responding to such questions. But, as Headlight.News reported earlier this week, the Japanese automaker is making significant changes to its powertrain and product strategy. For starters, it has now decided to completely end its plans to sell EVs in the U.S. market, likely through early in the next decade.
On the other hand, the automaker is looking to substantially expand its fleet of hybrids – reflecting the rapid increase in demand for that technology by American motorists. Several product lines, including Pilot and Accord, are expected to go all-hybrid, said Sam Fiorani, lead analyst with AutoForecast Solutions. It is expected that the next Ridgeline also will get a hybrid drivetrain – though it may offer a more conventional internal combustion option, as well.
A troubled history
The first of the original Ridgelines shown rolling off the assembly line in Alabama.
Ridgeline made its debut as a 2006 model, one in an assortment of trucks aimed at capturing a share of the resurgent midsize pickup market long dominated by the Tacoma from Honda’s arch-rival Toyota.
The third-largest Japanese automaker took a bet that there would be buyers for a car-based pickup, rather than one using the classic body-on-frame architecture. But the quirky styling was one of several factors that actually turned off buyers, Honda forced to pull Ridgeline from production in early 2015.
Honda came up with an all-new, more traditional truck design, launching production of the second-generation Ridgeline in June 2016 as a 2017 model. But demand for the truck continued to fall short of expectations.
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Weak sales
Honda sold just 48,448 Ridgelines in the U.S. last year. By comparison, Toyota sold 274,638 Tacomas. For the first quarter of this year, Honda sold just 10,980 of the trucks, and demand was down 15.7% in April. Toyota sold 69,263 Tacomas during the first quarter – though that truck suffered a 25% decline in April.
Ridgeline’s market share has been steadily on the decline, according to Automotive News, dropping from 9.9% in 2023 to just 7.3% of the midsize truck market last year.
The Honda pickup lagged behind the Chevrolet Colorado in 2025, as well as the Nissan Frontier and Ford Ranger. The only midsize model lagging behind it was the GMC Canyon.
“Prioritizing features and capabilities”
Despite the weak sales and emissions issues, however, Honda officials said they’re only temporarily idling production of the Ridgeline. It initially indicated the hiatus would be 18 months but now leave the gap a little more open, suggesting the next model is “arriving within two years.”
“The award-winning Honda Ridgeline has introduced innovative new technologies and features to America’s truck market for two decades, prioritizing features and capabilities recreational truck buyers need and use the most,” said Woelfer “The next Ridgeline, which will continue to be built by our associates in Alabama, will advance this legacy while gaining even more rugged design and capabilities.”
Beyond the likelihood of a hybrid package it’s unclear what else Honda might do to boost interest in the next Ridgeline. It’s expected to retain its current design approach, meaning a unibody platform, rather than the body-on-frame platform of its competitors. The teaser image does suggest the next Ridgeline will adopt a more conventional truck-like design.
Honda is in the midst of reshaping its product plans following a $2.7 billion loss for the fiscal year ending March 30. It was the first annual deficit for the automaker since it went public in 1957. That was primarily due to a large write-down reflecting a pullback in Honda’s EV program. Among other things, it scrapped plans to sell its new 0 Series EVs in the U.S. and abandoned a planned EV production hub in mid-Ohio.
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