Honda is done teasing. The company confirmed Thursday that a third-generation Ridgeline is in development and will reach the market within two years, with production of the current 2026 model pausing later this year as the Alabama plant prepares for the changeover.
The new truck is being designed at Honda’s styling studio in Southern California and engineered at the Honda Auto Development Center in Ohio, the same split-site process that produced the second generation. Honda repeated the phrase “even more rugged design” twice in its announcement, signaling that the unibody truck’s soft-roader reputation is what they’re most directly trying to address.
The Alabama Auto Plant in Lincoln will continue as the Ridgeline’s exclusive production home. The facility currently builds the Ridgeline alongside the Passport, Pilot, and Odyssey, and Honda’s confirmation that associates there will build the third generation is notable given the broader industry conversation about North American manufacturing commitments. Roughly 99% of all Honda vehicles sold in the U.S. in 2025 were made in North America.
The timing puts pressure on a nameplate that has spent two decades carving out an idiosyncratic position. Honda sold 48,448 Ridgelines in 2025, up from 41,367 in 2024, momentum that makes the production pause a calculated risk. The segment around it has not been static: the Chevrolet Colorado relaunched with a fully redesigned model in 2023, and the Toyota Tacoma, Ford Ranger, and Jeep Gladiator have all received significant updates in recent model years.
The first generation peaked at 50,193 annual sales in 2006 before declining and eventually going on hiatus after 2014. The second generation launched as a 2017 model and won the North American Truck of the Year award that year. The mid-cycle refresh pushed 2021 sales to 41,355 units, a 28.6% jump over 2020. A third-generation truck arriving with sharper visual credibility has a real sales floor to build from, not a comeback story to overcome.
Pricing, powertrain details, and an on-sale date will follow closer to launch. The production pause this year means the 2026 Ridgeline is a short-run model year. Buyers who want one should not expect to wait Honda out.
Source: Honda. Images courtesy of Honda.
