Autoblog

Click above for more high-res shots of the 2009 Honda Ridgeline.

After Honda showed its new schnoz on the redesigned Pilot, we knew what was bound to happen to the Ridgeline. And it's as unfortunate as expected. These newest spy shots show Honda's unibody pickup with a similar nose job as its fully enclosed sibling, complete with an upright grille framing an angular trim piece, and new headlamps. The only other discernable difference on the outside are redesigned taillights, and here's hoping that the interior gets some much needed material love when the new Ridgeline debuts later this year.

Surprise! Honda's controversially styled Ridgeline truck is about to get the Pilot's controversial snout. First released for the '06 model year, the unibody truck has not seen any real changes to this point and it's high time for a mid-cycle model refresh. Considering that the Pilot and Ridgeline share plenty in common, it's no shocker that Honda would share styling cues between the two vehicles. Also included in the refresh are some oddly-placed dual front foglights, new tail lights and redesigned bumpers front and rear. Not much seems updated in its profile, but some new 18-inch rims have a nice, chunky look to them.

So far, nobody at Honda is talking regarding powertrain updates for the Ridgeline. As we've reported in the past, though, a new diesel V6 engine of undertermined displacement seems very possible for both the Ridgeline and Pilot. With gas prices continuing to rise, Honda's Ridgeline may continue to be a popular option for those who use their trucks only for occasional hauling or towing and don't mind being seen in one ugly mutha trucka.

[Source: Temple of VTEC]

As domestic automobile manufacturers cut production and lay off workers because they were caught off-guard when consumer buying habits switched to more fuel-efficient vehicles, Honda will effortlessly shuffle its production to meet U.S. demand for small cars. Without cutting any jobs in North America, Honda will move assembly of the Honda Pilot SUV and Honda Ridgeline pickup from Alliston, Ontario, to Lincoln, Alabama. This move will allow the Japanese automaker to increase production of the fuel-efficient Honda Civic in its Canadian plant. Later this year, Honda is expected to add another 2,000 jobs as it begins to build Civics in Indiana, as well. That plant will be Honda's seventh in North America. Honda has sold 34,163 units of the Civic in North America through April of this year, which is 8.2% more Civics sold on average per day than in 2007. For comparison's sake, Toyota has sold 32,435 Corollas, Ford has sold 23,850 Foci and Chevy has sold 18,636 Cobalts so far this year.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Honda built its state of the art Lincoln, Alabama plant to produce the Odyssey minivan and Pilot SUV, and now it's going to add the Ridgeline unit-body pickup, as well. Cost-wise, it makes a lot of sense to move Ridgeline production from Canada to Alabama, considering all three vehicles share a platform and powertrain. What's tough to understand is how Honda intends to squeeze out an additional 40,000 units from the ultra-efficient plant. The Lincoln plant is already operating 13,000 units beyond peak capacity, with its very strong minivan and SUV selling well around the country.

Lucky for Honda we're not in charge of vehicle production, and we're sure the company's many brilliant engineers know what they're doing. Now, if the Japanese automaker can get some equally talented designers to gussy up the visual train wreck that is the Ridgeline, then they'd definitely need a second manufacturing sight site.

[Source: AL]

When you think about an automaker offering up incentives, Honda normally wouldn't spring to mind. With the ongoing success of the Civic and Honda's inability to keep enough Fits on the lot to keep up with demand, it's obvious that the automaker has been doing well with its core models, but it's some of its outlying offerings that aren't selling like hotcakes.

The SUV and minivan segment has been stagnant as of late, and coupled with an increase in production at Honda's plants, the imbalance is affecting the number of Pilots and Odysseys that are hanging around dealer lots. To combat the lethargic sales, Honda is increasing dealer incentives and lease subsidies on the aforementioned people movers, the Ridgeline and the long-in-the-tooth Accord.

Regardless of the move, Honda isn't throwing money on the hood like other automakers, which makes both corporate bigwigs and Honda owners happy, as residual values won't be hampered by a flood of inexpensive models hitting the market.

[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]

When diesels first hit the American market after the gas shocks of the 70's, they were unreliable, smelly, loud, and rough. They did get better gas mileage than comparably-sized gasoline engines, but in the eyes of the American public, the negatives of diesel tech far outweighed its positives. Diesel engines have gotten far better in the past 25 years, with Europeans buying more oil-burners than petrol engines. $3.00 per gallon gas (or worse) is helping to usher in a second renaissance for the diesel, and Honda is going all-in with a 3.5L dieselV6 for the US market.

Honda's forthcoming engine, which should be arriving around 2010, should achieve 30% better fuel economy (or more) than a comparably-sized gas engine, which should alleviate some of our pain at the pump. Honda plans on installing this V6 diesel delight on larger vehicles like the Odyssey minivan, the Ridgeline, and the Pilot. We think the new V6 will go along nicely with the planned four-banger in the Accord, and it will certainly help the folks from Tokyo compete with the many diesels the competition has planned for the near future.

[Source: Bloomberg]

Could it be true? Mike Levine at Pickuptruck.com thinks so and has quotes from Hyundai to back it up. The speculation is that the South Korean automaker may levereage the BH platform on which its upcoming Genesis luxury sedan is based to produce a new rear-wheel-drive pickup. Up until this point, we were aware that in addition to the BH-based Genesis, Hyundai was also planning a long-wheelbase version of the luxury sedan, a version badged as a Kia, and a rear-wheel-drive coupe. Adding a rear-wheel-drive pickup to the mix would help Hyundai get even more mileage out of the platform, so to speak.

Of course, being based on a unibody platform, the Hyundai pickup would be more like Honda's midsize Ridgeline than Toyota's new Tundra, the latter of which was designed to compete against Ford, Chevy, Dodge and Nissan in the full-size truck segment. Hyundai's pickup would likely share the same advantages that the Ridgeline now enjoys: under bed storage, a decent ride, sharper handling, and potentially higher fuel economy than a traditional pickup. Unlike the Ridgeline, however, it would be rear-wheel drive rather than all-wheel drive and feature Hyundai's new "Tau" 4.6L V8 rather than a V6. Thus, the Hyundai pickup would likely be a more capable hauler than the Ridgeline, which is saddled with a low 5,000-lb. towing capacity, less than half of some traditional pickups. Plus, Hyundai has confirmed that the Tau can go larger than 4.6L if it's used in a truck, which means it would produce considerably more than the 300 horsepower that's being planned for the Genesis.

[Source: Pickuptruck.com, illustration by Mark Stehrenberger used with permission]

In an interview with Automotive News, Honda's CEO, Takeo Fukui said that the automaker's newly developed diesel technology will find its way into their light truck offerings of the future.

The vehicles identified by Fukui as being the likely recipients of a V6 diesel are the Ridgeline pickup, Pilot SUV and Odyssey minivan, with Acura's MDX also being a candidate for oil-burning power.

The V6 engine is currently under development and will likely debut sometime after Honda introduces their 2.2-liter diesel in 2009.

Another interesting tidbit from Fukui's interview with AN was his comment about the possibility of future Honda vehicles receiving turbocharged mills. He indicated that the introduction of the turbo'd Acura RDX did not mean that only the high-end automaker would benefit from the glories of forced induction. We'd like to see a factory-blown version of the Honda Remix come out by the end of the decade, but we're not going to start saving up yet.

[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]

We've been too busy throwing down new posts to attend Spike TV's second annual AutoRox awards, but apparently that didn't stop the cable network from going on with the show at Fremont Experience in Las Vegas. Hosted by rapper/actor Ice Cube and featuring a variety of performances and celebrities, the show is America's only nationwide televised automobile awards ceremony.  Chevrolet's Corvette Z06 came away the big winner, netting the night's top honor for "Car of the Year," as well as taking home the "Best Sports Car" and "Deal of the Year" awards.

Other big winners included former Chrysler Chairman and CEO Lee Iacocca, who took home the "Icon Award". Sadly, Snoop Dogg was apparently unable to deliver the award to his golfing buddy, so 24's Kiefer Sutherland stepped in on his behalf.

Other winners include:

• BEST TRUCK - Honda Ridgeline
• BEST LUXURY CAR - Audi A8
• BEST SUV - Land Rover Range Rover Sport
• HOTTEST EXOTIC - Bugatti Veyron
• BEST TUNER - Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX
• BEST CONCEPT CAR - Chevrolet Camaro
• BEST MUSCLE CAR (viewers' choice) - Dodge Charger SRT8

Catch the delayed broadcast on Tuesday, April 18th on Spike TV, when it airs from 10pm-11:30pm Eastern.

[Source: Spike TV via PRNewswire.com]

 

The Honda Ridgeline, the company’s first pickup truck, sold nearly 53,000 vehicles last year. Though the numbers were considered disappointing by Honda and much of the press, the total nevertheless concerns Ford Motor Co., since many of those sales were from its segment share.

Now Ford is striking back with the 2007 Ford Sport Trac. The latest version, which is based off the new Explorer, provides greater room, for both interior and cargo space. A V8 engine (which had not been available in previous years) is now an option... the Ridgeline makes do with a V6. Ford has improved the Sport Trac’s safety equipment and systems to earn the highest rating for frontal offset impact safety from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety as well as all government crash tests. To counter the Ridgeline’s lockable trunk built into its truck-bed, the Sport Trac comes with a lockable bed cover as an option.

But the best feature, Ford and analysts points out, is that many truck buyers still don’t consider the Ridgeline a ‘truck’ due to its unibody construction. Says Jim Sanfilippo, an AMCI analyst, "I'm not sure the domestic truck buyer has figured out what the Ridgeline is.”

Full details can be found at the link.

[Source: Detroit News, picture by Ford]