In a move clearly intended to change the image of the Ridgeline pickup from toy truck to work truck, Honda is debuting today “The Power of Ridgeline” TV spot. The so-called new “integrated marketing campaign” promotes the redesigned 2017 Ridgeline, now available in dealerships nationwide. Creative work comes from the Academy-award nominated stop-motion artist PES. The unit-body Ridgeline has been dismissed by trucking traditionalists, of course, for its lack of a frame. Year-to-date Ridgeline has sold 5,992 units, but it was out of production most of last year
“Our new campaign celebrates how Ridgeline defies convention whether used for recreation or work, to show consumers what sets it apart from the rest,” claims Susie Rossick, Assistant Vice President of Marketing at American Honda Motor.
Honda also has launched a new Hispanic marketing campaign that debuted with the Ridgeline’s official sponsorship of the Univision Deportes’ broadcast of “Campeón de Campeones,” the Mexican soccer championship match between the winners of the two most recent Liga MX seasons that took place in Los Angeles and aired on Univision. A new Ridgeline Hispanic TV spot, “NO ES NADA” debuted during “Campeón de Campeones,” featuring the all-new Ridgeline as a “mid-size truck with a big-sized heart.”
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 favor of full-size pickups, a move that they are currently getting away with because of $2 a gallon gasoline, but a bet that is far riskier longer term. Ford once 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 a claimed 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. It has Normal, Sand, Snow and Mud modes, providing what’s claimed to be medium-duty off-road and towing capability. Superior on-road, all-weather handling, traction and performance are also claimed.
