Don't market it as a do-all tough truck and I don't think I'd have too much of a problem with it.

 

El Camino.

 

Would it have Aztek Styling like the Ridgeline?

If Chevy replaced the 1500 Silverado with a Lamda pickup, people would be pissed. If Chevy built a Lamda Crew cab "truck" and it looked like the Holden Crewman Cross 8 and they marketed it as a crossover pickup, and not a 1/2 ton I think people would love it.

 

Why speculate when we already have an Avalanche on the streets?

 

Just goes to show, if the media are gonna turn this truck into something it ain't, it won't work! That's the way it should be. And Honda are reluctant to drop prices... so they cut production!

 

I have said for a long time Pontiac needs that Holden Sport Ute. Freakin' Awesome!!!

 

The slanted C pillar really doesn't have anything to do with the midgate, even on the Avalanche. It's partly for styling, since a truck with one long side body stamping would look odd with a vertical rear section on the cab. And it's partly for aerodynamics for when the back window is open.

It's interesting to see Honda's response to lower-than-expected sales. Even at a 53 day supply (quite small by domestic standards), they choose to cut production rather than pile on excessive incentives and water down residual values and reputation.

 

I read that the "flying buttress" C pillar is for structural ridgidity due in partly to the midgate and because the Suburban chassis was not really meant to have a bed.

Didn't it say that Honda had put heavy incentives on the Ridgeline to get the supply down, even after they said they wouldn't and after the initial production cut.

 

I thought it was 2006 Truck of the Year...
Maybe it's the price, a Colorado starts about $16K, Ridgeline at $27K.? that $27K will get a Mid-level Silverado.
I personally never liked the Avalanche styling, too fake looking to me. And the Ridgeline looks like a bench mark styled copy, scaled down ofcourse. Imprt brands love playing up the large "size" of US trucks as a negative.
As far as the Holden trucks, maybe in some areas, but here I believe the Colorado would be better recieved. Looks too much like a sedan with a truck like greenhouse.
If you're gonna make a truck, make a "truck".

 

The Ridgeline comes standard with a myriad of equipment. Equip the Colorado the same and you'll find the prices are extremely similar.

 

The flying buttresses on the Avalanche's C pillar are plastic and wouldn't add much to the strength of the chassis. Maybe on the uni-body Ridgeline it might help tho.

Honda did use incentives to get inventories down to an appropriate level, although in typical Honda fashion they were dealer incentives rather than consumer incentives. And once they got inventory down to a reasonable level they reduced supply to match demand rather than try to keep sales artificially high.

 

While this may be true, public perception might not see it that way.

 

The IDEA behind the Ridgeline is pretty good. The DESIGN IMO is awful. To top it off, Honda marketing it as a truck is off putting.

The rear under bed storage area, and the dual opening tailgate is pretty sweet. It seats 4 comfortably, and has room for 5. It's the right size, and it has the potential of pulling many buyers out of large SUVs. With the success of the Equinox, the potential for a homerun with this type of vehicle is there.
BUT.....

...over 60% of all small & medium SUV buyers are women (the highest of any segment). The Ridgeline is marketed as a truck and looks the way it does because men account for well over 60% of the pickup truck market. Beyond that, it's geared to young single men. Young single men aren't particularly drawn to Honda beyond VTECs and Acuras.

Give it a less rugged more appealing design, market it as an all purpose SUV with a bed (like a Rav4, that can move furniture), and it should do well and have more stable sales numbers.

 

Which Toyota truck is the Ridgeline competing against, the Tundra, or the Tacoma? From its price range it looks more Tundra-oriented, which is a joke. The Tundra could bitch slap that thing 6 ways from Sunday. I have never understood Honda's reluctancy to add a V8 to their lineup; Toyota did it. Nissan/Infiniti did it. The American people want them!

 

It amuses me how often I read or hear that a different marketing angle is the solution to poor sales in various industries. (Usually this explanation comes from marketing types. Hmmm...) Couldn't it be that the problem is not that buyers need to be led by the nose to the Honda dealership in order to realize that this is the perfect vehicle for them? Maybe, just maybe, for most people, at that price point, it isn't.