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Updated September 2, 2026 · By TruckDaily

Honda Confirms Ridgeline Will Go Dark This Year for a Tougher Third Gen

American Honda, on July 23, 2026, confirmed a third-generation Ridgeline and said production of the current 2026 Ridgeline pauses later this year — Honda did not confirm a 2028 hybrid. The truck is designed in Torrance, engineered in Ohio, built in Lincoln, Alabama, “more rugged,” and arriving within two years. Honda did not publish 2028 or 2029 timing, a powertrain, horsepower, tow, payload, or MSRP. Automotive News and Car and Driver reported the pause is about emissions and could last about 18 months — that is not in Honda’s OEM release.

There is likely no 2027 Ridgeline. Midsize unibody shoppers should buy remaining 2026s or wait. The OEM story is a pause plus a teaser. Honda did not confirm a 2028 hybrid.

Sources

• American Honda, July 23, 2026 — Honda’s OEM facts for this page. Third-generation Ridgeline confirmed; designed at the Honda Southern California styling studio (Torrance dateline); engineered at the Honda Auto Development Center in Ohio; continues at the Honda Alabama Auto Plant; “even more rugged design”; “within two years”; 2026 production pauses later this year. Honda did not publish a 2028/2029 model year, a powertrain, a hybrid, horsepower, tow, payload, cab/bed, or MSRP.
• Frank Markus, MotorTrend, July 23, 2026 — same Honda confirmation. MT guesses a 2028 model year and says it could push to an early 2029. Hybrid V-6 plus an updated 3.5-liter V-6 is filed under “Pure Speculation.” Not Honda OEM.
• Jack Fitzgerald, Car and Driver, May 26, 2026 — citing Automotive News: pause about 18 months, tied to emissions, beginning in the fourth quarter. Honda declined C/D’s request to comment on future plans. Not in Honda’s July 23 OEM release. That May C/D write-up also treated the return as a refresh, not a new generation — Honda later confirmed a third generation.
• Automotive News, May 26, 2026 — original of the ~18-month / emissions pause reporting that C/D and others repeated. Paywalled. Hybrid V-6 in some follow-on reports traces here, not to Honda’s July 23 release.

Third-generation Ridgeline specs

Honda has not published a third-gen spec sheet. Honda did not publish horsepower, tow, payload, or MSRP. Every cell a shopper would use to beat up a Tacoma, Ranger, Colorado, or Gladiator window sticker is Not published. A hybrid rumor, a 2028 headline, or a current TrailSport brochure is not that sheet.

TruckDaily take

The OEM story is a pause plus a teaser. Honda confirmed a third-generation Ridgeline with a more rugged design, a U.S. design/engineering/build map, a “within two years” window, and a 2026 production stop later this year. That is the whole factory sheet. Honda did not confirm a 2028 hybrid. Hybrid V-6 copy in some reports is speculation or Automotive News, not the July 23 OEM release. The ~18-month emissions pause is AN / C/D, not Honda. The picture Honda published is the July 23 silhouette teaser — a current TrailSport is not the next truck.

Who it's for. Recreational unibody shoppers who actually use a Ridgeline as Honda described it — a midsize pickup with the features people use, not a body-on-frame identity argument. Anyone sitting on a 2026 allocation who needs to know the line goes dark later this year. Anyone willing to wait for a tougher third gen without a spec sheet, a powertrain, or a Honda-published 2028/2029 date.

Who should skip. Skip if you need published horsepower, tow, payload, or MSRP before you care. Honda has not printed them. Skip if you were shopping a 2027 Ridgeline; the factory math does not leave one. Skip the dealer pitch that treats a current TrailSport photo as the next truck. Skip any “2028 hybrid confirmed” headline that puts Honda’s name on Automotive News speculation. Honda did not confirm a 2028 hybrid.

What we'd actually buy. Remaining 2026 Ridgelines if you need the unibody midsize this year — the line pauses later in 2026 and Honda has not published a 2027. Wait for the third gen only if you can live without a Ridgeline for as long as “within two years” actually runs, knowing Honda has not published power, tow, payload, cab/bed, hybrid, or price. We would not buy a rumor Honda has not confirmed.

What Honda actually said on July 23

American Honda’s Torrance release is short. Honda confirmed development of the third-generation Ridgeline, “the next version of its midsize pickup, set to come to market within two years.” Designed at the company’s styling studio in Southern California. Engineered in Ohio. “The new Honda Ridgeline will feature an even more rugged design.” In preparation for that model, “production of the current 2026 Honda Ridgeline will pause later this year.”

That is the pause Honda owns: later this year, current 2026, because it is preparing for the new truck. Honda did not say fourth quarter. Honda did not say 18 months. Honda did not say emissions. Honda did not say 2028. Honda did not confirm a hybrid.

Lance Woelfer, vice president of Auto Sales at American Honda Motor Co., Inc.: “The award-winning Honda Ridgeline has introduced innovative new technologies and features to America's truck market for two decades, prioritizing features and capabilities recreational truck buyers need and use the most. The next Ridgeline, which will continue to be built by our associates in Alabama, will advance this legacy while gaining even more rugged design and capabilities.”

“More rugged design and capabilities” is the teaser language. It is not a ground-clearance number, a tire size, a TrailSport package, or a tow rating. Honda did not publish horsepower, tow, payload, or MSRP in that sentence either.

The third-generation Ridgeline “will continue to be built exclusively at the Honda Alabama Auto Plant,” which currently builds the second-generation Ridgeline, Passport, Pilot, and Odyssey. MotorTrend names Lincoln, Alabama, as that plant. Honda’s own map is design in Southern California (Torrance dateline), engineering at the Honda Auto Development Center in Ohio, build in Alabama. That is the American truck Honda is selling in the press release. Honda still did not publish a horsepower figure.

Honda also posted a “Next Gen Ridgeline Teaser” silhouette — 7200×4057 and 1200×676 on the newsroom page. A dark four-door pickup outline. Not a studio walkaround. Not a current TrailSport.

The pause Honda confirmed, and the 18-month story Honda did not

Two clocks are running, and they are not the same document.

Honda, July 23: 2026 production pauses later this year as Honda prepares for the new model. The new one arrives within two years.

Automotive News (May 26) and Car and Driver’s May 26 write-up of that report: Honda will pause Ridgeline production for about 18 months because the unibody truck’s aging powertrain fails to meet upcoming emissions regulations. C/D said the stoppage would begin in the fourth quarter. A Honda spokesperson declined C/D’s request to comment on future plans or how many months of inventory Honda had stocked, and instead said the Ridgeline “remains an important model in our lineup and one of our top conquest models” and “will continue to play an important role in our product lineup now and in the future.”

The May reporting is AN / C/D, two months before Honda confirmed a third generation. Honda’s July 23 OEM release does not say “emissions” or “about 18 months.” Honda’s OEM reason is preparation for the new model. If a salesperson is quoting an 18-month dark period as factory gospel, ask them to show Honda’s release. It is not in there.

The May C/D piece also said the return would be a heavily refreshed Ridgeline, “though it won’t be an entirely new generation,” with a next-generation truck “in the early 2030s, riding on a new hybrid architecture, according to the AN report.” Honda’s July 23 release overrides that generation call. Honda confirmed a third generation, arriving within two years. Treat the May “not a new generation / early 2030s hybrid architecture” stack as superseded reporting, not as a second OEM.

“2028” and “hybrid” are reporter math, not Honda OEM

MotorTrend’s July 23 story ran under a 2028 headline. In the body, Frank Markus is explicit: Honda is “still advising us to expect the new Ridgeline ‘within two years,’ so we’re guessing it will arrive as a 2028 model year vehicle, but it could push to an early 2029 model as well.” That is MT guessing from Honda’s two-year window. Honda did not publish a 2028 or 2029 model year.

Same MT piece, under the subhead “Pure Speculation”: “None of this is official,” then a TrailSport-style hardware wish list, then “Honda is in the process of developing a hybrid powertrain that can be used for its larger vehicles like the Ridgeline, and it would be a good bet that it could power the new truck, in addition to the updated version of Honda’s tried-and-true 3.5-liter V-6.” A good bet is not a confirmation. Honda’s July 23 release does not name a hybrid, a V-6, or three electric motors. Honda did not confirm a 2028 hybrid.

Car and Driver’s later July 23 teaser story (Eric Stafford) still wrote that the next Ridgeline “will also likely be powered by a new hybrid V-6 powertrain” with “up to three electric motors.” Likely is C/D. It is not American Honda. Headlines that flatten that into “Honda confirms hybrid Ridgeline” are putting Honda’s name on reporter math Honda did not say.

Honda’s own July 23 “About Honda” boilerplate lists the electrified lineup it will name today: Prologue EV; hybrid-electric Accord, CR-V, Civic, and Prelude. The Ridgeline is listed as the pickup. It is not on that electrified list. A missing name on a boilerplate list is not a hybrid denial. Honda simply did not publish a third-gen powertrain.

There is likely no 2027 Ridgeline

Honda is still building 2026 Ridgelines. Honda said that production pauses later this year. Honda said the third generation arrives within two years of July 23, 2026. Honda did not announce a 2027 Ridgeline. Put those three sentences next to each other and the shopper math is a hole where a 2027 model year would sit.

“Likely no 2027” is TruckDaily’s read of the factory calendar, not a Honda quote. Honda did not print “there will be no 2027 Ridgeline.” Honda also did not print a 2027. A 2027 that exists only on a dealer whiteboard is not a Honda truck.

If you need the unibody midsize — car-like ride, crew cab, in-bed storage as the current truck does it — the trucks that still exist to buy are remaining 2026s. After the pause, you are waiting on a third gen with no published power, tow, payload, cab/bed, hybrid, or MSRP. That wait is real. The spec sheet is not.

Inventory after “later this year” is Not published as Honda OEM. C/D asked in May how many months of stock Honda had; Honda declined. Honda did not publish a days-supply number.

What this is not

It is not Honda confirming a 2028 Ridgeline. Honda said within two years.

It is not Honda confirming a hybrid. Honda did not confirm a 2028 hybrid. Hybrid V-6 in some reports is speculation / Automotive News, not the July 23 OEM release.

It is not Honda publishing third-gen horsepower, torque, towing, payload, ground clearance, fuel economy, cab/bed configs, or MSRP. Those cells are Not published. Honda did not publish horsepower, tow, payload, or MSRP.

It is not Honda adopting Automotive News’s ~18-month emissions pause as the official reason. Attribute that to AN / C/D. Honda’s published reason is preparing for the new model.

It is not a current TrailSport in a new hat. The only third-gen image Honda posted is the July 23 silhouette teaser. A 2024–2026 TrailSport studio shot is not the next truck.

It is not a body-on-frame conversion. Honda did not say platform. Honda said Alabama, next to Passport, Pilot, and Odyssey. Shoppers who need that inference can wait for an OEM platform line. Honda has not published one.

FAQ

Editorial news. Last updated September 2, 2026. Author: TruckDaily. Photo credit on the still.