Ford freshens C-Max for 2017

The C-Max hybrid may be nearing the end of the line but Ford has freshened it, albeit slightly, for 2017.

New headlights with integrated LED daytime running lights, different fog light housings and different taillights appear to be the most visible changes for the 2017 model year, judging by recent spy photographs.

The listing for the 2017 model can also be found on Ford’s fleet site.

Ford builds the C-Max hybrid at its Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Mich.

However, the automaker will stop selling the hybrid after production ends at the plant in 2018, with the all-new Model E effectively fulfilling its role.

The C-Max has struggled to attract buyers, especially amid an overall slump in U.S. sales of hybrid and other alternative-energy vehicles, as gasoline prices remain low.

U.S. sales of the C-Max -- billed by Ford at the time as a nimbler and sportier rival to the Toyota Prius -- started in 2012 and deliveries peaked at 35,210 in 2013.

Ford has sold 15,149 C-Max vehicles in the U.S. through the first nine months of 2016, down 12 percent over the same period in 2015.