The Honda Ridgeline is taking about a year and a half off, as the second-generation pickup will soon be phased out of its lineup due to tightening emissions regulations and an aging design. So far there has been no statement from the Japanese automaker about what will happen next.
Honda has officially confirmed that the third-generation Ridgeline is coming in the next few years, and based on the single silhouette rendering we’ve been shown, it looks even boxier than before. In fact, it’s more of an outline. A ridge outline if you will. If I had to make an educated guess, the next Ridgeline is going to look a lot like the current Honda Passport with a truck bed attached to the back, while the current one looks like a Pilot with a bed. Perhaps it will be pulled from the new pilot instead. Only time will tell. Either way, it will likely use Honda’s new hybrid V6 engine, which I had a chance to see in Japan last year.
Updated styling and a new motor are two things the second-generation Ridgeline, on sale for 2017, desperately needs. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad truck (if you’re my father-in-law who just bought one, I think it’s a great truck); I just think it could use a little freshness, you know!
soft trucks in a tough world
The Ridgeline was never really much of a success for Honda. In 2025, it moved only 48,448 trucks. This isn’t a terrible number, but it is lower than its closest competitors like the Toyota Tacoma and Chevy Colorado, which sold 274,638 units and 107,074 units respectively. It’s a shame, too, because the Ridgeline will certainly meet the real needs of most Tacoma and Colorado buyers better than those trucks. The thing is, though, those trucks look tough, and the Ridgeline never really does. This major design change, which will be completed at the company’s California studio, is clearly about that.
As we reported earlier this year, the automaker decided to halt Ridgeline production at its factory in Lincoln, Alabama in the fourth quarter of this year due to tightening emissions standards around its 3.5-liter V6. While that’s happening, Honda is apparently going to crank up other high-volume nameplates like the Odyssey and Passport – increasing production of each nameplate by more than 10%.
Honda hasn’t officially confirmed the emissions rationale as to why the Ridgeline needs to take a break, but it would be strange to take a break for 18 months without any significant reason. In any case, look for the third-generation Ridgeline sometime in 2028, and until then, the most I can offer you is the Ridgeline. I hope this can satisfy you for a while.
