Honda Ups Discounts on Ridgeline - a Truck That's Already Having a Better Year

Like most Americans, you probably didn’t emerge from last night’s slumber with thoughts of the Honda Ridgeline on your mind. Few do, though the oft-overlooked unibody Honda pickup remains a fairly consistent niche seller.

For the coming month, Honda wants to provide you, the buyer, with additional reasons to choose its offering over tried-and-true BOF competitors.

The headline gave it away. With year’s end looming, Honda is increasing incentives on the Ridgeline, a vehicle that first bowed in second-generation guise in mid-2016. Boosted spiffs aren’t the only way Honda plans to clear out aging inventory.

As reported by CarsDirect, the automaker plans to offer 0.9-percent financing (over a 72-month term) on certain Ridgelines, which happens to be the best finance offer on this particular vehicle the publication has seen to date.

While all Ridgelines are eligible for $2,000 in dealer cash, a new effort adds an extra $2,000 for Ridgeline Sport buyers, and $1,500 for RTL buyers. If you’re unaware, the RTL is the high-end Ridgeline. So, getting those additional discounts means springing for a truck with a higher asking price, but those are normally the hoods where extra cash lands.

Also, as CarsDirect points out, there’s no certainty your local dealer will use those extra dollars to move metal. Shop around if you’re in the market. A lease on a low-end Ridgeline RT is apparently one of the better deals to be found in December, so there’s that to consider.

The current offer ends January 6th.

Honda’s latest Ridgeline earned positive reviews upon its debut for being brawnier and more capable than one might have assumed. Since its release, monthly sales have stagnated in the high-2000 range, though 2019 has turned out to be better year than 2018. Through the end of November, Ridgeline sales are up 6.7 percent, with last month bringing a significant 36.2-percent volume gain.

With the exception of August 2019, last month was the nameplate’s best showing in the U.S. since March of 2017. Per ALG, November saw the average incentive spend per unit rise 9.4 percent, year over year — the greatest increase of any automaker.

[Image: Honda]