Honda’s 2017 Ridgeline aims to be a more civilized breed of truck

The next Alabama-made vehicle debuted today at the North American International Auto Show: the all-new 2017 Honda Ridgeline pickup, which is joining the production lineup at the automaker’s Lincoln assembly plant.

As predicted by Torque News and others during the Ridgeline regeneration process, Ridgeline will share the same mechanically bulletproof 3.5 Liter direct injected V6 and 6 speed automatic transmission with 2016 Pilot.

Honda says it is targeting best-in-class acceleration, fuel economy and safety ratings.

Honda Motor Co.is showing it’s learned a thing or two about American sports culture with a reborn pickup truck made for tailgate parties.

For the first time in the model’s existence, the Ridgeline will be available in both front- and all-wheel drive configurations.

The 2017 Ridgeline will continue to offer its unique, In-Bed Trunk at the rear of the bed that houses the spare tire, tools and gobs of storage space.

Honda expects top marks in NHTSA and IIHS crash testing thanks the new truck’s body structure, advanced airbags and the Honda Sensing suite of safety features, which includes forward collision warning, lane departure warning, collision mitigation braking, road departure mitigation and lane keep assist. This also provides more convenient reach to a 400-watt power inverter in the bed wall to plug in blenders and televisions.

Innovative features like the dual-action lift gate and in-bed trunk now with a fully flat floor returns. Adding to the cool factor of the truck is an available six-speaker system in the bed of the truck that’s created to make parties and tailgating more fun.

For 2017, Honda fans willing to write the check can opt for a bed-wall-integrated 600 watt stereo system with television flatscreen connectivity.

“This is essentially an open-bed version of the company’s new Pilot, which bodes well for the new truck given the success Honda has experienced with its Pilot”, Karl Brauer, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book, said in an email. The truck also gets Honda’s LaneWatch system, which uses a camera in the passenger mirror to show the driver what is beside them.

Market research told Honda that a prime reason the first generation Ridgeline failed to seduce more buyers was its offbeat styling. Honda was named the “2016 Best SUV Brand” by U.S. News and World Report, and the Pilot, CR-V, HR-V and Odyssey each has earned a “Best Buy” award from Kelly Blue Book for 2016.

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