The Japanese automaker plans to reveal the new Ridgeline at the Detroit auto show next month.
DETROIT, MI - After a brief absence, the Honda Ridgeline pickup is set to return, as Honda Motor Co. said Friday it is adding it back to the hotly contested midsize truck segment.
The Japanese automaker plans to reveal the new Ridgeline at the Detroit auto show next month.
It will be the fourth new or significantly refreshed light truck model introduced by Honda in the last 18 months, joining the refreshed 2015 CR-V, the all-new HR-V sub-compact SUV and the third-generation Pilot midsize SUV.
"We developed the new Honda Ridgeline to offer something new and fundamentally better suited to the way many buyers use their truck," Jeff Conrad, senior vice president and general manager of Honda Division, said in a release. "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."
The all-new Ridgeline arrives as light truck sales have been a boon for most automakers in the U.S.
Honda's light truck sales through the first 11 months of this year are up 12 percent on an annual basis to 599,507 units.
The first generation Ridgeline first made its debut at NAIAS in 2005 and went into production that year. Production ended in mid-2014.
The new, forthcoming Ridgeline was designed and developed at Honda's design studio in Torrance, Calif. and at its and development center in Raymond, Ohio. The truck's engine will be produced at a Honda plant in Lincoln, Ala.
More details on the new mid-size truck are expected at Honda's NAIAS press conference, scheduled for 1:15 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 11.
More than 40 news cars and trucks are expected to debut at the 2016 Detroit auto show. Press preview days are Jan. 11 and 12, and the show will be open to the public Jan. 16-24.
David Muller is the automotive and business reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. Email him at dmuller@mlive.com, follow him on Twitter or find him on Facebook.