Honda today unveiled an all-new 2017 Ridgeline truck at the North American International Auto Show, claiming innovation in technology and packaging breakthroughs in the mid-size pickup truck market.
The Ridgeline – based on the Pilot SUV and the Odyssey minivan – faces stiff competition from Toyota Tacoma, Nissan Frontier, as well as Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon trucks. Ford and Dodge, of course, abandoned the mid-size market in favored of full-size pickups, a move that they are currently getting away with because of $2 a gallon gasoline, but one that is a far riskier bet in the long term. Ford had two final assembly plants running flat out producing Rangers. They are both long gone.
Designed, developed and manufactured in America, the new Ridgeline will launch in the first half of 2016. Class-leading space – with the largest and most versatile cabin and the only 4-foot-wide flat bed space in the mid-size pickup segment, along with payload capacity rivaling top competitors are claimed.
Honda-exclusive features include In-Bed Trunk, dual-action tailgate and the industry’s first in-bed audio system that could make Ridgeline a desirable tailgating vehicle.
The Ridgeline will be powered by a 3.5-liter, direct-injected i-VTEC™ V-6 engine mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission, providing top-in-class powertrain refinement and targeting best-in-class acceleration performance and segment-leading EPA fuel economy ratings.
The Ridgeline also will come for the first time in both front-wheel and all-wheel-drive configurations. All-wheel-drive models will have Honda’s i-VTM4 torque vectoring AWD technology, with so-called Intelligent Terrain Management with Normal, Sand, Snow and Mud modes, providing medium-duty off-road and towing capability with claimed superior on-road, all-weather handling, traction and performance.
“We think we’ve got a better idea, a truck that uses its unibody construction and Honda packaging magic to deliver more of the things that many of today’s truck customers want and need with none of the things they don’t,” said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co.
