Honda just confirmed it. The third-generation Honda Ridgeline is coming, and it will be on sale within two years.
A teaser image came with the announcement — enough to see the silhouette of a four-door pickup, not enough to see much else. Honda says the new truck will have an “even more rugged design.” Production of the current Honda Ridgeline pauses later this year. The new one goes to the same Alabama plant when it is ready.
The Pilot and Passport Got New Platforms First
Honda redesigned the Pilot and Passport on a new architecture. The Honda Ridgeline and Odyssey shared the old platform — they were waiting while the SUVs went first.
The Honda Ridgeline’s turn is now confirmed. The Odyssey remains unaddressed.
Production of the current truck stops later this year during the transition. That gap is normal for a full model change at a single assembly plant. Alabama builds the Honda Ridgeline exclusively — when the line needs to switch generations, production pauses while the plant is retooled.
Where the New Honda Ridgeline Is Being Built and Designed
Design: Southern California. Honda’s California studio handles exterior and interior design for the North American market and has been the creative home for recent Ridgeline and Passport work.
Engineering: Ohio. The Honda Auto Development Center in Ohio handles the technical development — chassis tuning, powertrain integration, safety systems, all the mechanical work that turns a design sketch into a production vehicle.
Production: Alabama. The Lincoln, Alabama plant that builds the current Honda Ridgeline will build the third-generation as well. When the new model is ready, the line comes back up with the new truck on it.
What the Teaser Actually Shows
Not much. Honda released a single silhouette image that shows a four-door pickup shape. The proportions look broader than the current Honda Ridgeline — the roofline appears slightly lower relative to the cab height, and the overall stance reads as wider and more planted than the softer shape of the outgoing truck.
Honda’s language about the design is specific in one way: “even more rugged.” That is a direction statement, not a description of features. The current Honda Ridgeline has always been the polite option in the mid-size truck segment — car-based unibody construction, smooth ride, sophisticated on-road manners, and a reputation for being the truck that truck people dismiss. The rugged direction signals Honda is aware of that reputation and working against it.
The new Passport is the best clue available. Boxier shape, heavier body cladding, more aggressive visual posture than what came before it. TrailSport pushed that direction. If the Honda Ridgeline follows the same path — and the teaser silhouette suggests it might — this is a truck that will look different enough to stop the usual conversation about whether it is a real truck.
The dual-action tailgate and the in-bed trunk that opens from below the cargo floor are two of the Honda Ridgeline’s signature features. Honda has not said whether those survive into the third generation. Both are genuinely useful. The trunk especially — a lockable, weatherproof storage area that sits below the bed floor and is inaccessible from outside the tailgate — has no equivalent in any other mid-size pickup. Losing it would remove one of the most legitimate reasons to choose a Honda Ridgeline over a Tacoma or Ranger.
The Powertrain — Hybrid V6 With Three Electric Motors
Honda has not officially confirmed the third-generation Honda Ridgeline’s powertrain. What is known comes from Honda’s broader announcement about its upcoming hybrid system — the same platform going into the next-generation RDX and redesigned Honda Accord.
That system uses a V6 engine with up to three electric motors. Honda has stated targets for it: acceleration improved by over 10 percent compared to current gas-only models, fuel economy improved by over 30 percent. The cost of the system is being cut by over 30 percent versus existing hybrid architecture, which is what makes it viable across multiple models including a pickup truck.
The current Honda Ridgeline runs a 3.5-litre naturally aspirated V6 making 280 horsepower. A hybrid version of a similar-displacement V6 with electric motor assistance would likely produce more power than that while using considerably less fuel — particularly relevant in stop-and-go urban driving where the Honda Ridgeline spends most of its working life.
The current Ridgeline’s i-VTM4 all-wheel drive system uses electric motors to distribute torque between the rear wheels. Three motors combining hybrid drive with torque vectoring is one system doing two jobs instead of two systems working side by side. Cleaner engineering.
Towing capacity, payload, horsepower — none of it published yet for the third-generation Honda Ridgeline.
What the Third Generation Needs to Fix
The Honda Ridgeline has a loyal customer base and real advantages over body-on-frame competitors — better ride quality, better fuel economy, better handling, and that in-bed trunk. It also has disadvantages that its buyers accept and its critics repeat.
Towing capacity. Current Honda Ridgeline: 5,000-pound tow limit. Tacoma: up to 6,800. Ranger: up to 7,500. Buyers with a boat or trailer have always had to do the maths and often ended up somewhere else.
Off-road capability. The current truck’s unibody construction and relatively modest suspension travel put it behind the Tacoma TRD Pro and Ranger Tremor in serious terrain. TrailSport on the Passport suggests Honda knows how to build a credible off-road trim — applying that to the Honda Ridgeline would address a longstanding criticism.
Design perception. The current Ridgeline looks like what it is — a car-based pickup designed by people who wanted the truck to appeal to car buyers. That was a reasonable strategy when it launched. Tacoma, Ranger, Colorado — all redesigned in recent years, all went more aggressive visually. The Honda Ridgeline sat next to them looking like it was apologising for being a truck.
The third generation addresses the design issue directly by Honda’s own description. Whether it addresses towing and off-road capability depends on what the chassis engineers in Ohio have been working on.
When It Arrives
Within two years from now. Honda has been specific about that timeline without giving a model year or calendar date.
The current Honda Ridgeline production pause later this year is the clearest signal of timing. Plant retooling for a new generation typically runs several months. Production pause late this year plus a within-two-years timeline puts the third-generation Honda Ridgeline at a 2026 or 2027 model year.
Every major mid-size truck competitor has been redesigned during the current Honda Ridgeline’s production run. The Tacoma is redesigned. The Ranger is redesigned. The Colorado is redesigned. The Honda Ridgeline is arriving into a segment where every major competitor has recently refreshed.
That timing is either a problem or an opportunity depending on what Honda has built. Get the design right, close the towing gap, give it a hybrid powertrain that genuinely beats the competition on fuel numbers — the Honda Ridgeline has a real case.
Look tougher, same truck underneath: same buyers, same losses.
Honda has been quiet on the Ridgeline for years while every competitor around it got redesigned. That silence ends here. The third-generation Honda Ridgeline is coming, it will look tougher, and the hybrid powertrain should finally give buyers a reason to cross-shop it against the Tacoma and Ranger on performance numbers rather than just practicality. Two years is the window. Ohio is doing the engineering. Alabama is waiting to build it.
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