Facelift

What is a facelift?

A facelift is a frequently used term in the automotive industry. A facelift refers to the mild upgrades that usually took place in the middle of a car’s life circle. Depending on the car brand’s strategy, the degree to which a car changes after a facelift can vary. It can encompass minor exterior updates or include both exterior, interior, and mechanical changes. In most cases, facelift only comprises of small cosmetic changes on the front face, for example, revised bumper, restyled headlights and foglights, a new grille, and so on. The car brand can make some adjustments to the variant-wise feature list, for example, making high-trim features available on the lower variants. Changes for the side profile and rear-end are less likely to happen.

Most of the times, interior updates of a facelift are subtle. It could include small changes in terms of interior colour schemes, materials, styling accents, and the likes. It is unlikely that the feature list will get any significant updates or additions. With regards to the mechanicals, a facelift sometimes can include changes to engines, transmission, and chassis. A facelift is usually an opportunity for the car manufacturer to upgrade their models to meet the new emission norms or safety regulations.

Why car facelift is necessary?

These days, a generation of a car model usually lasts from six to eight years. The life cycle of a car is quite long for a product in a recent market. A facelift plays an important role to fill the gap between the generational upgrade. A facelift will provide the much-needed refresh for the product in the constantly changing market. Each time the car brand introduces a facelift version, it means a new opportunity for the car model to gain attention from the audience. The company will do a new round of media promotion, advertising, and events.

History of facelift

The concept of a facelift is believed to be invented by Alfred P Sloan. Alfred P Sloan was the president of General Motors during the 1920s. Back then, the automotive company lost huge market share to Ford who enjoyed tremendous success with the best-selling Model T. In order to compete against the rising force of Ford, Sloan had come up with a new strategy which attempted to revise the car design annually. This plan had worked out well and help GM to regain market share from Ford who refused to play by the new rules and keep their best-selling model unchanged until the 1930s.

The success story of GM had inspired other car brands to follow the suit. By the 1950s, most car models in America had adopted the annual update practice. Outside America, these game-changing tactics were revised and applied by other car manufacturers. However, unlike the American market, foreign car brands have extended the gap between upgrades to two to four years instead of upgrading every year. Today, in America, the annual upgrade is still popular while for the rest of the world, the facelift cycle is longer. During a life cycle, a car model can receive two or event three facelifts before it is replaced by the new generation model.

The same rules are applied to the Indian market. A life cycle of a car is around 6-8 years with two or three facelifts slotted within that time span.

Should I buy a facelift?

In most cases, the facelift will be introduced at a slightly higher price than the old version. When a new facelift is launched, the car manufacturer will want to clear the old model stock. You can expect the price of the old version to go down. If you find the old version enough for your need, you can consider getting a pre-facelift model to save money.

Where to get the latest information about the car facelift in India?

IndianAutosBlog is the trusted place where you can get the latest car updates in both the Indian market and global market. We will keep you fully informed of the newest developments in the car industry.

Upcoming facelift in India 2021-2022

Here is the list of upcoming facelifts that are scheduled to hit the Indian market in 2021-2022.