Kawasaki Teases a Five-Seat Ridge Crew

In our buyer’s guide for the all-new 2024 Kawasaki Ridge rec-ute, the first sentence in the “Downs” category is, “Not available with more than three seats.” The last sentence in that same category is, “We were hoping for more cargo and towing space.” Kawasaki is fixing two of those three gripes with the rig it’s just teased, the Ridge Crew.

Assuming the trim steps are shared with the two-door, the enclosed cab in the teased model, plus the Garmin Tread screen and individual front seats separated by a console make us suspect this is a Ridge XR HVAC Crew. The standard two-door Ridge makes 92 hp from its 999cc inline four-cylinder and rides on 27-inch tires, the two-door Ridge XR makes 116 hp from the same engine and sits on 30-inch tires.

Another note on the front seats in this crew model: These aren’t the sporty buckets with integrated headrests found in the two-door Ridge XR, they resemble the less fancy, more comfy seats found in our preferred Ridge trim, the Ridge Limited HVAC. Even though the Limited is down on ponies compared to the XR, we declared it the peak of the Ridge range for its composed suspension, being “stiffer, more composed, easier to drive, and happier when you hustle it. The engine is just as playful as it is in the faster rig, and you simply don’t notice the missing horsepower.”

The teasers include the date January 21, 2025. That puts us at a little more than a week out to know what’s headed our way. We hope Team Green doesn’t copy the launch cadence of the two-door, which would mean holding back fully cabbed Crew models for months after launch and delaying the entry-level rigs for most of the year. But we’ll be tuned in for all the good news we can get on the 21st.

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