The term "facelift", which is also sometimes known as a "minor change", "minor update", or "refresh" by car manufacturers, describes a minimum change to a model which normally also coincides with a model year change. While the word "facelift" is a generic term used across the industry, manufacturers may each have their own phrase to describe a facelifted model.
BMW uses the acronym LCI ("Life Cycle Impulse") to denote a facelift. Other marques may directly call a particular car a facelift model, while some simply call it a new model. In automotive parlance, "new" usually refers to a facelifted model, whilst the term "all-new" denotes an entirely new generation with not only a design overhaul, but new underpinnings as well.
Holden and
Ford Australia implemented a strategy in their automotive design, involving substantial stylistic alterations while retaining the overall generation and platform of the vehicles. Some instances include the fourth generation
Holden Commodore, which comprises the
VE and
VF, as well as the seventh generation
Ford Falcon, represented by the
FG and
FG X. Although these models belong to the same generation, they represented different iterations. Despite essentially being facelifts of one another, these iterations have undergone subtle aesthetic enhancements, commonly referred to as "Series II" revisions. == Examples ==