The 2025 Honda Civic facelift might be the handsomest C-segment sedan - sorry Mazda 3

The 11th-gen Honda Civic is strutting itself on the American streets since April 2021, and now it's itching for a makeover just three years later. A minor model change, they call it.

In Malaysia, we got a taste of the Civic FE as of January 2022 in all-turbo guise before a range-topping RS e:HEV variant was brought to showrooms.

For January 2024, in comes the Honda USA, thrusting the revised Honda Civic Hybrid into the limelight for the 2025 model year in Sport Touring trim, no doubt these cosmetic alterations will spread across the range. So far, it's looking more chiseled and aggressive, borrowing some cues from the Type R.

Buyers in North America can expect this facelift of the Civic Hybrid in both sedans and hatchback form, and Honda seems confident that an expected 40% of Civic sales are to be electrified come mid-2024, sporting the impressive i-MMD e:HEV powertrain.

We've caught glimpses before as the Japanese automaker played coy with the prototype at the Tokyo Auto Salon in 2024. The front end, it's got a thicker grille, bidding farewell to the FE's pronunced forehead.

Honeycomb mesh struts in, dancing to a new rhythm, while the 'mouth' is playing hard to get – protruding, wider, and those fog lamp housings? Gone, replaced by a rebellious vertical vent, giving it that Type R edge.

Those weeks look extra slick as well, sporting a two-tone finish and seemingly slightly larger than what we’ve been seeing so far - a set of 19-inch alloys will definitely be one of the most anticipated upgrades should the specifications be unchanged when it arrives in Malaysia.

At the rear, LED signatures do look to have been changed up as well, making the pre and post facelift Civics distinguishable in the dark. Honda's keeping us in the dark about the insides, but who cares? If it's not broken, why fix it? The real mystery is the hatchback version – the recent Civic RS Prototype from this year’s Tokyo Auto Salon had no sedan sibling in sight.

Now, the burning question: when do we, in the land of ASEAN, specifically Malaysia, get our hands on this more chiseled Civic? If history is any guide, we're talking a good six months after the pre-facelift rollout. So, mark your calendars, early 2025 or the tail end of 2024 – place your bets, folks. What say you about the Civic's fresh mug? Time for a thumbs up or a hard pass?