The Honda Elevate, first introduced in 2023, quickly established itself as a strong contender in the fiercely competitive compact SUV segment. For its 2025 model year update, Honda has opted for a strategy of thoughtful refinement rather than complete overhaul, focusing on enhancing comfort, style, and technology based on customer feedback and evolving market demands. The 2025 Elevate aims to build upon its core strengths—reliability, spaciousness, and a refined driving experience—to maintain its appeal against a host of aggressive rivals. This refreshed model is positioned for buyers who value a blend of everyday practicality, solid engineering, and a feature-rich, comfortable cabin.
Refined Design and Assertive Exterior Presence
The 2025 Honda Elevate retains its signature bold and upright SUV stance, a look that gives it an authoritative road presence. This year’s updates are subtle but impactful, designed to inject a touch more aggression and modernity. A key exterior addition is the optional “Alpha-Bold Plus Grille”, featuring nine prominent vertical slats with a thick chrome surround. This alternative grille design, standard on the Signature Black Edition and available as an accessory on other trims, caters to consumers desiring a bolder, more muscular front fascia. New exterior colour options, such as the premium Crystal Black Pearl, have been made available across more variants, expanding the choice for customers who prefer a darker, sportier aesthetic. The overall silhouette, characterised by its tall nose, LED DRLs, and stylish 17-inch alloy wheel patterns, continues to strike a fine balance between premium styling and practical dimensions, including a class-leading ground clearance of 220mm, which remains a huge advantage on diverse road conditions.
Elevating Interior Comfort and Feature Set
Perhaps the most significant changes in the 2025 Elevate are found within the cabin, addressing market expectations for a more feature-rich and luxurious interior. Honda has introduced fresh interior colour schemes to boost the premium quotient. The top-spec ZX trim now offers an elegant Ivory and Black dual-tone interior, featuring white leatherette seats and soft-touch materials on the dashboard and door panels, providing a bright and airy feel. Simultaneously, the mid-spec V and VX trims receive an upgrade with new black fabric upholstery accented by ivory soft-touch inserts, leaning towards a more modern and sporty appearance compared to the previous beige theme.
Beyond aesthetics, the 2025 model significantly bolsters its technology package. The long-requested 360-degree surround view camera system is now available, greatly improving manoeuvrability and safety during parking in tight urban spaces. This feature, along with seven-colour ambient lighting—which is standard on the Signature Black Edition and optional on the ZX trim—adds a layer of sophistication and customisation to the driving experience. The cabin remains inherently practical and spacious, featuring an impressive 458-litre boot capacity, excellent rear knee and headroom, and Honda’s renowned ergonomic layout, focusing on driver-centric controls and high visibility. The 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and the 7-inch semi-digital driver display continue to be key technology highlights.
Tried-and-Tested Powertrain and Performance
Under the bonnet, the 2025 Honda Elevate wisely sticks to its proven and highly reliable formula. It continues to be powered by the smooth and refined 1.5-litre i-VTEC, 4-cylinder naturally-aspirated petrol engine, the same unit trusted in the Honda City. This engine delivers a respectable output of around 121 PS of power and 145 Nm of torque. Buyers can choose between a engaging 6-speed manual transmission for those who prefer more control, or a smooth 7-step Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) for relaxed city driving.
In a market increasingly dominated by turbo-petrol and hybrid options, Honda’s decision to retain the naturally-aspirated unit emphasises its core strengths: legendary reliability, low maintenance, and highly predictable performance. While it may not offer the aggressive acceleration of some turbocharged rivals, its power delivery is linear, making for a remarkably comfortable and stress-free drive, especially in stop-and-go traffic. Furthermore, the engine is known for its competitive fuel efficiency, with the CVT variant offering an ARAI-certified mileage of up to 16.92 km/l and the manual variant at 15.31 km/l, making it an economical choice for daily use.
Safety and Competitive Positioning
Safety remains a non-negotiable priority for the Elevate. The 2025 model maintains its robust safety suite, anchored by Honda’s ACE (Advanced Compatibility Engineering) body structure and a standard six-airbag system across most variants. The top-of-the-line ZX trim continues to feature the advanced Honda SENSING suite—Honda’s proprietary Level 2 ADAS (Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems). This package includes functions like Adaptive Cruise Control, Collision Mitigation Braking System, Lane Keeping Assist System, and Road Departure Mitigation, offering an enhanced layer of active safety that few competitors can match at this price point. The inclusion of the LaneWatch camera further assists in eliminating blind spots during lane changes.
In terms of market positioning, the 2025 Honda Elevate is typically priced between approximately ₹11.00 lakh and ₹16.15 lakh (ex-showroom, India), depending on the variant and region. Its value proposition is built on the pillars of Honda’s brand legacy: supreme comfort, unmatched reliability, and high resale value. While it still lacks a panoramic sunroof, ventilated front seats, or a strong hybrid option—features offered by certain rivals—the Elevate counters with its class-leading ground clearance, segment-best boot space, five-star JNCAP safety rating (for the Japanese-spec version, which is mechanically similar), and the highly effective Honda SENSING suite. The 2025 updates, especially the new interior finishes and the addition of the 360-degree camera, have successfully addressed some of the previous feature gaps, solidifying the Elevate’s position as the refined, no-nonsense, and highly dependable choice for the modern SUV buyer.