American Honda hasn't done lots of new models or updated model introductions lately. They haven't featured anything noteworthy between their strong Q1 results (their best over the past three years) and the 12.4% surge in April deliveries, for example.
Instead, the company was interested in announcing that its Honda Battle of the Bands (HBOB), the nation's premier showcase for Historically Black College and University (HBCU) marching bands, will make its Los Angeles debut next year or that the new AI-based Honda Scenic Audio app will help make the "joy of the journey" accessible to the blind and visually impaired. For sure, they need to up their game for the rest of the spring if they want to compete with Toyota even better than currently.
No worries, leave it up to the rumor mill and the imaginative realm of digital car content creators to deliver what Honda fans want. For example, the good folks over at the AutoYa info channel on YouTube have imagined the CGI looks of the refreshed sixth-generation Honda CR-V compact crossover SUV – the company's top nameplate in the US car market.
Obviously, they noted how the CUV still makes good sales but also that its surge has started slowing down – it was just 1.4% better in April 2024 than in April 2023, although for the first four months of the year, the difference was much higher – it jumped 28.5%. As such, they worry ahead of Honda that the CR-V might need a quick and subtle refresh. No worries; the channel's resident pixel master is ready for the task.
As such, the video feature embedded below features the unofficial design project of the 2025 Honda CR-V (global version) rocking subtle exterior differences compared to the real world's current model – a thinner, split radiator grille, reworked headlights with a completely new LED DRL signature, a modified front bumper featuring new inserts, as well as different alloy wheels. At the rear, meanwhile, they believe the changes will be subtler and only reserved for the different lighting signature of the taillights.
Inside, meanwhile, there are no color options (just yet) like on the outside, but the CGI expert and the host make the bold assumption that Honda will swap the current small-screen layout with a vertically-oriented 15-inch central infotainment screen. Of course, do take all of these renderings with a healthy dose of salt, as nothing is official just yet.
However, Honda clearly needs a lot of novelties – including the refreshed 2025 Civic and the new Civic Hybrid plus other ideas to compete with its big foe Toyota, which already has a big roster lined up for 2025: Crown and Crown Signia, Tacoma i-Force Max, 4Runner, and others. So, what do you think? Who will prevail between them, especially if Toyota unleashes an all-new RAV4 later this year to combat the refreshed 2025 CR-V?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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