Will pickup buyers choose a non-V8 truck with a five-foot bed that shares an assembly line with their accountants' wives' Pilot SUV over a traditional model? That's the question the WSJ's Joe White is asking in an article exaMining Honda's Ridgeline pickup. Honda's hoping to sell 50,000 Ridgelines a year, but we suspect in the end it'll write off hardcore truck buyers. For these buyers, the benefits of the Ridgeline's unit-body construction and convenience features won't likely outweigh its lack of truck prestige and hauling shortfalls. Rather, look to Honda to expand the market around casual utility and sports functions, like Subaru did with the Brat in the early '80s (remember how damn many of those were on the road?). We doubt Honda's wildest calculations even put converting hardcore buyers at more than 10 percent of sales, or else they'd have added that extra foot to the bed.

Honda Looks to Break Truck Rules [The Wall Stret Journal]

Related:
Honda's Ridgeline: Out with the Old [internal]

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