The Honda Ridgeline is generally classified as a "sport utility truck", a category in which you'll also find vehicles like the Chevrolet Avalanche and Ford Expl

The Honda Ridgeline is generally classified as a "sport utility truck", a category in which you'll also find vehicles like the Chevrolet Avalanche and Ford Explorer Sport Trac. It's basically an SUV (which are commonly unibody) without the rear enclosure. The distinction is that their primary design purpose is aligned more with that of an SUV than that of a pick-up truck. I'm not aware of any true pick-up that uses a unibody design, and probably for the reasons you've stated.