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All-New 2025 Honda Ridgeline Pilots Its Way Through the Virtual Mid-Size Elite

Frankly, most American pickup truck enthusiasts would be excused if they forgot about the existence of the Honda Ridgeline nameplate or if they do not count it among the elite of mid-size models in its sector.
Honda Ridgeline Elite Pro-4X rendering by Digimods DESIGN 8 photos
Photo: Digimods DESIGN / YouTube
Honda Ridgeline Elite Pro-4X rendering by Digimods DESIGNHonda Ridgeline Elite Pro-4X rendering by Digimods DESIGNHonda Ridgeline Elite Pro-4X rendering by Digimods DESIGNHonda Ridgeline Elite Pro-4X rendering by Digimods DESIGNHonda Ridgeline Elite Pro-4X rendering by Digimods DESIGNHonda Ridgeline Elite Pro-4X rendering by Digimods DESIGNHonda Ridgeline Elite Pro-4X rendering by Digimods DESIGN
After all, to no one’s surprise, after the sales results came in for the entirety of 2022, the most popular unibody pickup truck in the United States was the compact, affordable, and electrified Ford Maverick. Twinned with the Escape and Bronco Sport SUVs, the Mexico-produced pocket-sized workhorse sold almost 75k units last year, a far cry from its direct rival, the crossover-styled, posher Hyundai Santa Cruz, which delivered 36,480 examples.

But why are we talking about Maverick and Santa Cruz? Well, the only other unibody representative on the U.S. market is the larger, mid-size Honda Ridgeline. And although the latter has been on sale since the 2006 model year and already has a second generation under its belt since the 2017MY, it only managed to slot in between the two smaller unibody heroes with almost 43k deliveries. That is a rather shameful appearance, especially considering its direct rival, the best-selling Toyota Tacoma, has managed over 237k sales during times of great (supplier) hardships and (chip) shortages.

So, what can be done to change that around? Well, some might say the constant updates – including a bigger styling refresh for 2021MY – have not done their intended job, which is to attract more customers to the Honda fold. Thus, perhaps, maybe it is time for more drastic measures, especially since Honda has been keen to showcase that it has what it takes to fight across the mid-size field with the eleventh-gen Accord sedan and the equally all-new fourth iteration of the Pilot crossover.

Well, at least across the imaginative realm of digital car content creators, that would mean it is time for an all-new 2025 or 2026 third-gen Honda Ridgeline unibody pickup truck. The dream comes courtesy of Dimas Ramadhan, the virtual automotive artist behind the Digimods DESIGN channel on YouTube, who has taken up the task of revealing a fresh Honda Ridgeline - in CGI, and with a few interesting twists and turns. For starters, this ‘Elite’ version is most obviously inspired at the front by the latest mid-size Hondas like the Accord or three-row Pilot.

But even though the latter has a rugged trim version called TrailSport, the pixel master did not take advantage or inspiration from that one and instead awkwardly elected to create his next-gen Ridgeline based on a competitor – namely the latest Nissan Frontier Pro-4X, as per the rear decal hints left forgotten in some POVs. Anyway, this CGI expert is not shy of controversy, and his love for pickup trucks sometimes gets in the way of logic – such as that recent time when he envisioned an all-new 2024 Fiat Fullback looking ready to scare everyone away! And if you’re in for the thrills, we have it embedded second below…

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About the author: Aurel Niculescu
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Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution.
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