Honda Teases New Ridgeline Debut for Detroit Auto Show

Honda wanted to shake things up in the midsize truck segment back when it introduced the first-generation Honda Ridgeline, and after a solid 10-year run it appears the company has similar plans for the second-gen version of the truck that the company says will “challenge conventional thinking in the midsize truck segment.” Honda has officially announced the truck will make its world debut next month at the 2016 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, and we can expect to see the all-new Ridgeline in dealerships during the first half of next year.

We don’t have many specific details on the Ridgeline at this point, but it’s clear Honda is confident it will offer a unique take on the other midsize trucks in the market that include Chevy’s Colorado (our 2015 Mid-Size Truck Shootout winner), the Toyota Tacoma (which is all-new for 2016), and the Nissan Frontier. "We developed this new Honda Ridgeline to offer something new and fundamentally better suited to the way many buyers use their truck," said Jeff Conrad, senior vice president and general manager of the Honda Division. "Ridgeline will deliver everything you'd expect in a Honda from incredible packaging and fuel-efficiency to top safety technologies and innovative, segment-first features."

Honda’s first-gen Ridgeline certainly took a unique approach for its first full-fledged truck, as its unibody construction was more akin to SUVs and not the standard body-on-frame design truck buyers were accustomed to. The second-gen Ridgeline — which Honda says was designed, developed and manufactured in America — is actually the fourth light-truck vehicle to receive major updates in the past 18 months, following changes to the CR-V, HR-V crossover and Pilot. Aside from the unibody construction, the first Ridgeline offered another unique feature with its in-bed storage compartment. With Honda saying in its release that the new model will “challenge conventional thinking,” it like the company has some more unique features up its sleeve.

No specifications have been released on the new Ridgeline, and we know very little about the new truck other than the teaser image Honda released above, but we did get a sneak peek of what the truck’s body styling will look like at this year’s SEMA Show and the 2015 SCORE Baja 1000, where a race truck version of the Ridgeline, featuring a turbo-charged V6 engine and fiberglass body panels that resemble the new truck’s exterior design, won its class in last month’s race.

With plans for the official unveil set for Monday, January 11th in Detroit, we look forward to seeing what Honda has in store for its new Ridgeline pickup truck. Be sure to check back with Off-Road.com for coverage of the unveil.