Honda Unclear on Element, Ridgeline Replacements

DETROIT – Honda says it’s still debating what will replace the boxy Element cross/utility vehicle and Ridgeline compact pickup truck in its U.S. lineup.

The auto maker continues to insist the current Ridgeline, virtually unchanged since debuting in 2005, isn’t going anywhere, despite much speculation about its impending death due to shrinking sales. However, it remains to be seen what form a replacement model would take.

“We do think the market can be served by a pickup-type utility truck,” American Honda Executive Vice President John Mendel tells WardsAuto in a recent interview. “We don’t know whether that’s (Honda) Pilot-based or whether it’s something unique.”

The current Ridgeline rides on the same platform that underpinned previous generations of the Pilot 3-row CUV and Odyssey minivan.

At the Ridgeline’s launch eight years ago, its unibody chassis was criticized by truck purists and other manufacturers, which maintained only a vehicle on a ladder-type platform should be called a truck.

However, several innovations introduced in the Ridgeline, including its in-bed utility box, later were adopted by some competitors. Those OEMs also publicly discuss unibody platforms for their next compact pickups, although it is unclear whether any will pull the trigger.

Ridgeline sales tallied 14,068 units in 2012, WardsAuto data shows, down from the record 50,193 in 2006. That slide mirrors the trend seen in compact-truck demand.

Volume in WardsAuto’s Small Pickups group went from 516,875 units in 2007 to 278,265 in 2012. The Detroit Three largely have abandoned compact pickups, arguing sales are too few and pricing too close to fullsize pickups to justify another model.

General Motors is the exception, with plans to roll out replacements for its Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon. WardsAuto forecasts their arrival in 2014 as ’15 models.

Meanwhile, the Element is presenting Honda with a conundrum similar to that of the Ridgeline.

Although it was the first of the boxy vehicles to go on sale in the U.S., beating Scion’s xB by a year, the CUV is the only one to be discontinued, killed off in 2010 due to declining sales.

At the time, Honda said it intended to replace the vehicle, but Mendel says the big question is, “with what?”

“Are we looking at a vehicle that would replace the appeal (of the Element), to the buyers who bought (the) Element? Yes,” he says. “Whether it’s an Element replacement or not remains to be seen.”

Honda hasn’t closed the door on offering another box, but a different body style may fit the bill.

Although he doesn’t classify it as an Element replacement, Mendel sees the upcoming production version of Honda’s Urban SUV concept as possibly filling the void for some fans of the discontinued Element, as it offers similar utility and functionality, especially if fitted with certain optional equipment.

However, the B-segment utility vehicle, based on Honda’s Fit subcompact, might not appeal to those drawn to the larger, Civic-based Element because it was different.

The Element’s best sales year was 2003, with 67,478 units, WardsAuto data shows. Volume in 2010 dropped to 14,247.

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