LOS ANGELES — After four years on the market, Honda’s current Ridgeline is getting a fairly significant exterior freshening to give it more squared-off styling and chunkier proportions.
The changes come as the midsize pickup market has heated up with the debut last year of the resurrected Ford Ranger.
“The 2021 Ridgeline features all-new sheet metal from the front roof pillars forward. Design changes include a new hood sporting a pronounced power bulge, and new front fenders that emphasize the squared-off nose and more upright grille,” Honda said Wednesday.
“A new front bumper highlights the toughness of the new Ridgeline’s design and adds broad side vents that route air through the bumper and around the front tires and wheels, creating air curtains to improve aerodynamic performance,” the automaker said.
The freshened midsize pickup goes on sale early next year. Pricing will be announced closer to the launch date.
Interior updates include a new infotainment display and a physical volume knob. In earlier versions of its vehicles, Honda removed the volume knob from infotainment systems, which proved unpopular with customers. Honda has been resurrecting the knob with redesigns of its vehicles.
Also inside, the freshened Ridgeline gets new cloth inserts on some trims along with updated accents on the dash, steering wheel and center console.
U.S. sales of the Ridgeline through the third quarter were 23,112, down 2.2 percent compared with the same period last year.