Originally Posted By: gofast182
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: gofast182
There's a lot of idiocy and misinformation in this thread. Sure it was never a stunner in the looks department and doesn't get great MPG but the Ridgeline is very much a truck, it broke important engineering ground for its time, and continues to be a success for Honda.
1. Yes it has a unibody but it also has an integrated closed-box ladder frame underneath which makes the body structure more rigid than any body-on-frame truck to this day. Other important features were the dual-action tailgate and the in-bed trunk.
2. The real falacy here is that comparisons to F-150 and Silverado and RAM are flawed because the Ridgeline is NOT the same type of truck nor was it intended to be.
3. To this day it's a successful model for Honda, introduced in 2005 with limited changes this 9 year old model is still on track to sell 15,000-18,000 units for Honda this year! Small potatoes compared to other types of trucks like F-150, but remember, it's much older and it's NOT the same type of truck.
It doesn't matter that it's not the same type of truck as a BOF full size, it is competing with those trucks. It's a niche vehicle that is meant to be an alternative to the traditional truck. It kind of made sense in 2005 when a lot of trucks couldn't break 20 MPG, only reg cab full sizes had V6s, and trucks were an easy sell. That has changed, and the Ridgeline no longer has any advantage over a full size CC except for smaller dimensions, and the Honda badge if that's important to you. For $35-$40K you can get a crew cab Ram SLT V6 that gets 25 MPG on the highway, tows 6K lbs, is extremely quiet and comfortable, offers an air suspension, and even offers a "Ram Box" that is accessible with the bed full (unlike Honda's groundbreaking, revolutionary, world changing in bed trunk). Honda is really going to need to break some engineering ground this time to compete with that.
I wouldn't call the Ridgeline a failure, but it wasn't a runaway success either. It has been a good experiment for them though. It's certainly better than just slapping Passport badges on Rodeos to get a foot in the door of the SUV market.
I don't disagree with all you're saying, regular trucks are becoming quite attractive with added comfort and efficiency but you contradicted yourself right off the bat. It doesn't compete with those trucks. No one looking for a full-size pickup (F-150, etc) is cross-shopping Ridgeline, no one. Tacoma and Frontier Crew Cab, yes, various SUVs, likely, Avalanche, maybe.
No one? I highly doubt that.
Different types of vehicles can compete for the same market share if their end purpose is the same and price is roughly the same. The Ridgeline was going for the "family truck" buyers, who probably do cross shop full size crew cabs.
The Tacoma and Frontier compete with the Ridgeline basically only in approximate size and towing/payload, not so much in content and price which is what many people are really considering when truck shopping. Tacoma Double Cabs (crew cabs) start at $23K new, compared to $30K for the Ridgeline. That's the only one that's a competitor to the Ridgeline. The regular cabs can still be had for less than $20K new. The Ridgeline isn't even going to be a consideration for many people shopping for a Tacoma or Frontier for a lot of reasons...probably number one being they don't want a "family truck."
The family truck market is still a good one to be in, but the Ridgeline has lost its advantages quickly. Right now it's only going to appeal to the people who must have a Honda, or prefer the smaller size and don't mind paying full size prices for it.
