The Next-Generation Honda Ridgeline Will Continue to Hone a Successful Formula
tags:- Honda recently teased a third-generation Ridgeline, and it seems like the truck will continue with a unibody platform.
- A Honda executive told Car and Driver that Honda views the current truck as a success, with its unibody approach giving it a unique place in the market.
- Honda is planning to introduce more capable TrailSport models, and the Ridgeline is a “good opportunity” to take the off-road trim in a more extreme direction.
The mid-size truck market is about to get crowded. Along with the Toyota Tacoma, Ford Ranger, and Chevy Colorado, Ram is gearing up to bring back the Dakota nameplate, and Honda has teased a third-generation Ridgeline due in a couple of years. But while Hyundai and Kia have also both declared intentions to join the party with a body-on-frame truck, it appears Honda will stay the course with unibody construction for the Ridgeline.
At a media roundtable this weekend ahead of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix in Washington D.C., we asked Honda executives about the next-generation Ridgeline and—given Hyundai and Kia’s plans to directly challenge segment leaders with a body-on-frame platform—whether Honda would ever consider such an approach. While Lance Woelfer, vice president of auto sales, wouldn’t directly confirm what will underpin the next Ridgeline, his comments suggest Honda will stick with the unibody setup, and for good reason.
“It’s been a tremendous success in the current format; it’s been with a unibody,” Woelfer said. “That’s been something where it has really met market needs. It’s been selling at about 45,000 a year.”
A teaser for the third-generation Ridgeline.
Ridgeline sales have remained consistently over the 40,000-unit mark since 2021, improving from the low-30,000 range that the Ridgeline occupied during the first few model years of the second generation. While the Ridgeline may not quite be able to match the sales prowess of its rivals from Toyota, Ford, and Chevrolet, the steady performance shows that Honda has identified a corner of the market that may have previously been underserved.
The unibody setup gives the Ridgeline a unique selling proposition in the mid-size class, with the only other popular unibody truck being the significantly smaller Ford Maverick. Sharing a platform with the Odyssey minivan means the Ridgeline rides significantly more comfortably and handles more nimbly than its more truck-like rivals. Many truck owners utilize only a fraction of their vehicle’s capability most of the time, and paired with a spacious cabin, the Ridgeline is designed to bring daily driving ease while still being able to tow up to 5000 pounds and haul large objects in its 5.3-foot-long bed. The Ridgeline even provides added versatility with a lockable in-bed trunk that can be washed out.
While the Ridgeline already meets the needs of its niche well, Honda is hinting that the next-generation will get even more capable, even if the unibody platform continues to provide a more car-like driving experience. When asked about off-road-oriented TrailSport models and the chance of even more rugged Hondas, Woelfer hinted at upcoming upgrades to the Passport and Pilot TrailSport trims, but didn’t stop there. “Ridgeline has a good opportunity as well,” he explained. “I think there’s a lot of upside for it, so we could be far more extreme in products like that as we go forward.”
With the Ridgeline likely to get more capability baked in from the start, while still retaining its unique position as the only unibody mid-size truck, Honda sees the potential for even more growth. “We’re really excited about the next Ridgeline,” Woelfer said. “I’m very confident that consumers will respond well to it.”
Production of the current Ridgeline will end later this year, with a pause before the next generation arrives, likely for the 2028 model year. Woelfer concluded, “I think it will be a bigger contributor to our sales when it comes back.”
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Caleb Miller began blogging about cars at 13 years old, and he realized his dream of writing for a car magazine after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and joining the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to one day own something bizarre like a Nissan S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan.