Scheduled to launch by December this year in the US, Honda has revealed the first facelift of the fifth-gen CR-V. Other markets are expected to get the new CR-V sometime next year. Honda has made changes to the front bumper and grille. It has also replaced the horizontal slats with a honeycomb mesh, giving a fresh appeal to the grille and a darker finish to the chrome bar. The facelifted CR-V gets a more streamlined bumper design with repositioned LED fog lamps. To make the SUV look sportier Honda has added a chrome applique to the outline of the air dam and the fog lamp housings with black cladding above it.

Honda hasn’t made a lot of changes to the rear though. The Japanese carmaker has simplified the design of the rear fog lamps and added a differently styled skid plate in black. The rear lights also get a darker tint. Higher-spec variants get new 19-inch alloy wheels.

However, the interiors of the CR-V remain unchanged. The feature list continues to remain the same -- including the 7-inch touchscreen display with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, the tri-section digital instrument cluster, the Honda Sense suit of driver-assist technologies and dual-zone auto AC.

The CR-V will get the same engine options along with a hybrid borrowed from the Accord. It will be offered alongside the 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine in the US. The hybrid unit will get two electric motors and a 2.0-litre petrol engine that will be paired to an e-CVT. The CR-V comes with three drive modes: engine, hybrid and all-electric.

In India, we get the CR-V with both petrol and diesel engines with a seven-seater layout in the latter. Honda has already confirmed that it will update the diesel engines to comply with BS6 norms.

The current CR-V is priced between Rs 28.27 lakh and Rs 32.77 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) and takes on the likes of the Skoda Kodiaq, Volkswagen Tiguan, Ford Endeavor and the Toyota Fortuner. Expect the facelifted version to come to India by late 2020.