Face-Lifted: 2010 Honda CR-V

TOKYO — Honda Motor will formally unveil the face-lifted 2010 Honda CR-V in Japan on September 17, but the modest alterations are barely worth the wait — or the major splash-and-tease on Honda's global Web site, which features a single front three-quarters shot of the car and an entreaty to come back for more details in mid-September.

The nose job, in fact, was described by a Honda U.S. spokesman as "a minor model change." The U.S. version goes on sale on September 19.

Comparing the 2010 model with the current CR-V, it appears that Honda has changed the grille, bumper and front fascia — a "freshening," in the parlance of the product development specialists — and little else.

Inside Line says: The changes to the European version were deemed so inconsequential that the new CR-V won't even be displayed on Honda's stand at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show, which coincidentally opens to the public on September 17. — Paul Lienert, Correspondent