On Thursday, Honda confirmed plans to halt assembly of the Ridgeline midsize pickup at its Lincoln, Alabama plant later this year. The factory requires extensive retooling to prepare for a completely redesigned successor. The automaker expects to resume production within two years, pointing to a 2028 market return.
That manufacturing freeze arrives at an unusual moment. During the first half of 2026, the Honda CR-V compact SUV formally ended the Ford F-150’s 47-year run as the best-selling vehicle in America. Honda’s North American plants are running at roughly 90 percent capacity to keep up with crossover demand. The current Ridgeline is moving in the opposite direction.
Sales for Honda’s unibody truck slipped 3 percent in the first half of 2026. The company moves between 41,000 and 52,000 units annually. The segment leader, the Toyota Tacoma, cleared 270,000 sales in 2025.
Company executives want to close that gap. Lance Woelfer, vice president of auto sales at American Honda Motor, stated the incoming model will feature an “even more rugged design” to attract recreational buyers. He declined to confirm if the new truck will transition to a traditional body-on-frame platform. Woelfer addressed reporters directly following the release of a dark teaser sketch.
The next version keeps its domestic manufacturing roots intact. The truck will be styled at Honda’s Southern California studio before moving to Raymond, Ohio for engineering. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s 2026 American Automobile Labeling Act data currently ranks the Ridgeline as the most American-made pickup on the market. It utilizes 75 percent North American parts. That metric places the Alabama-built vehicle ahead of domestic legacy models from Ford, Chevrolet, and Ram.
Targeting the Toyota Tacoma Monopoly
Honda’s decision to temporarily pause a model line rather than run it concurrently with the redesign process highlights a distinct manufacturing priority. The CR-V’s historic mid-year sales victory over the F-Series proves American buyers are prioritizing unibody comfort and fuel economy. Honda wants to apply that exact crossover momentum to its truck division. The Tacoma controls the midsize segment through reputation and off-road capability. By promising a more rugged aesthetic while maintaining a high percentage of localized parts sourcing, Honda is repositioning the Ridgeline away from a niche utility vehicle. The two-year retooling window allows the company to reallocate immediate factory capacity to the surging CR-V before directly challenging Toyota’s midsize dominance in 2028.