American Honda has named its newly developed four-door, 4WD truck the “Ridgeline”.
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It goes on-sale at US dealerships in spring 2005 as a 2006 model.
American Honda announced the name at the Specialty Equipment Manufacturer’s Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas, where it displayed an updated concept version of the truck with a new paint scheme, revised suspension and new wheel and tyre package.
The production truck will make its world debut at the 2005 North American International Auto Show in Detroit next January.
Dan Bonawitz, the vice president in charge of corporate planning for American Honda, said: “The Ridgeline will make a great platform for customisation and we think that people are going to be truly surprised by the capabilities of this new Honda truck.”
The Ridgeline is claimed to have the industry’s first fully integrated, closed-box frame with unibody construction said to deliver superior ride, handling and packaging efficiency along with half-ton payload capacity and significantly stronger body rigidity versus traditional body-on-frame trucks.
It features a five-foot load bed with minimal wheel arch intrusion and a spacious, full-size, five-passenger interior “in a more ‘manoeuverable’ and ‘garageable’ mid-size truck package, a Honda statement said.
Four-wheel independent suspension mounted to a highly rigid body will give the Ridgeline superior handling and ride comfort compared to other trucks in its class, the automaker claimed.
Powertrain is a 3.5-litre petrol V6 and five-speed automatic transmission with fully automatic four-wheel drive system.
Standard equipment includes four-wheel anti-lock brakes, side curtain airbags and stability/ traction control.
