I don't have extremely high hopes for it (in terms of being a mainstream success). Trucks like this have consistently failed in the long term. The Subaru Baja is probably the smallest example, and it wasn't all that successful, even when new. The other mainstream one, the Ridgeline's closest competition, is (or I should say "was") the Ford Explorer Sport Trac. The Sport Trac even sported fully independent suspension in its second generation. It was, quite figuratively, a Ford Explorer with a box on the back.
Each of these trucks has fallen to the wayside over time; each has a very passionate following, but by a relatively small number of people. Perception is king, and I think most people perceive these has having no real utility. For owners of them, the truth is very much opposite, but that's the way it is.
I think of them a lot like a Google Chromebook. Some people say, "just get a real computer". Others say, "they don't do more than a tablet, just get a tablet". But there is a small, but devoted, set of people who believe in the niche the Chromebook fills (myself included).
Like a Chromebook, I don't believe a car-based truck will ever be a mainstream success. There are too many competing emotions for many truck buyers. I am glad that some manufacturers like Subaru and Ford and Honda have found a way to participate in this market to some degree. And with Honda re-entering it, and with Fiat looking at it also with a Dakota re-make, there may be some life here, yet. I don't think it'll ever be a top-10 or even top-50 seller.
I am glad they make them, though.
