2026 Honda Ridgeline.
Last Updated:
Since we have no official news of a next-generation Honda Ridgeline pickup, why not imagine one?
Honda’s revised large platform has already given us the Acura MDX and Honda Pilot. We know a new Honda Passport is next. Since the Odyssey minivan is still selling pretty well, we could maybe expect a new generation something next year, after the new Passport.
Just like the Odyssey, there is no news about a new Ridgeline. The current generation came out in 2016. It is quite old and still shares its interior with the current Passport, which is from the previous generation Honda Pilot. The Ridgeline has a very smooth and comfortable pickup. It almost rides like a luxury car. But the second generation design is much more conservative than the first generation was. And that more “truck-like” design never translated into a huge bump in sales. Although numbers have actually been improving a bit with 42,762 of them sold last year. However, the newer Nissan Frontier was much more popular with over 76,000 units sold.
There is no doubt the Ridgeline is due for a redesign if Honda wants to keep it around. It shares so much with the Passport I do not expect a possible next generation to ever be as cool or original as the first one. Which of course, wasn’t for everyone, but the current one doesn’t seem to be either…
I think the first-generation Ridgeline was much more modern-looking than the current one. And the interior still looks good! Compared to the super conservative current Honda designs.
The reason why Honda does not sell more of the current one is because they are capacity constrained. It falls behind the Pilot and Ody in production priority at the Alabama plant. If Honda made more they would sell more.
The current generation’s design saw a large jump in sales over the prior generation with its much more traditional trucklike looks, so I dont think we’ll see anything in a redesigned Ridgeline that isn’t in the Pilot. The unibody structure will never compete against body on frame trucks like Nissan Frontier, Ford F150 bcuz those can haul a tremendous amount – but they will also continue to see pressure in terms of reliability and efficiency. You can’t put those kind of loads on modern engines and expect it to be low maintenance. Around here, F150’s are the unbiquitous farm machine. Posers buy them for daily drivers, but they otherwise suck at it. Honda’s just biding its time, though I wish they’d make a Ridgeline that looks as modern as the Prologue (and the illustration above).
NOT GOING TO LIE….oops caps lock was on…. this one looks really nice… but it is 95% a stretched out front end of the GM/Honda joint venture known as a the Prologue…. not bad… but this person didn’t spend to much time doing it…. maybe AI
Vince, Do we have any creditable information on whether Honda is coming out with a Hybrid powertrain for the Large Platform vehicles? I think an EV Pilot and Ridgeline is a ways off, but a Hybrid would help “buy Time”.
I’m sure the front of the new Ridgeline will share most of what the Pilot has. Stamping dies are expensive and the more you can share the cheaper it cost to develop.
I haven’t heard anything about a Hybrid for their large platform vehicles.
Which is really too bad…
I’d love to see Honda do a series hybrid like Nissan has with its e4orce system in the X-Trail and Qashqai, and use the 2.0 liter turbo 4 as the ICE generator. This would give excellent off-the-line torque as well as excellent range and MPG without the need to plug in.
Waiting patiently to see the Ridgeline 2026