At least that’s what research done by automotive market consulting specialists, Focus2Move says. Their figures show that worldwide Q1 2014 sales of the CR-V totaled 165 017 vehicles, which is up from 161 837 for the same period in 2013. And for now, that makes it the world’s best-selling SUV.
Focus2Move say their analysis for Q2 points to similar success with 63 241 CR-Vs sold in May. That’s even more than the world’s best-selling small car – the Ford Fiesta – sold in the same month. Their stats show the CR-V as being the world’s 11th best-selling vehicle in all categories.
Originally launched at the 1995 Tokyo Motor Show and offered for sale in South Africa two years later, the various generations of the CR-V have been popular here too, though the figures don’t quite match its worldwide popularity.
According to NAAMSA stats, the Honda sold 496 CR-Vs here during Q1 of 2014. Competitors, the Ford Kuga and the Toyota RAV sold 1 005 and 1 064 respectively over the same period. The Koreans do not release sales figures but it’s likely that both the Kia Sportage and Hyuandai iX35i would have also outsold the CR-V in our market.
Last year we did a comparative test with the base model 2,0-litre versions of the Honda CR-V, the Hyundai iX35, the Toyota RAV, and the Subaru Forester… read it here.
