Honda Celebrates CR-V 30th Anniversary, Best Selling Global SUV With Total Sales Of 15 Million Units

JAKARTA - Honda commemorates its 30th anniversary for its global CR-V SUV. Since its debut in 1995, CR-V has made an extraordinary success story with sales of more than 15 million units worldwide.

CR-V stands for "Comfortable Runabout Vehicle", developed as an innovative SUV model with the concept of the "Creative Move" series, which aims to support the community in creating a more fun and exciting lifestyle, as well as spearheading a new genre of "urban SUVs" that offers great comfort and driving skills.

While expanding sales to more markets, CR-V continues to grow along with customer needs in every era which is certainly better from time to time.

"Based on total unit sales over the past ten years (2015-2024), CR-V is the best-selling Honda car model, which establishes itself as an important model representing Honda SUV lineup," Honda tweeted on its official website, quoted Thursday, October 9.

History of Honda CR-V from generation to generation

The first generation Honda CR-V was introduced in Japan in 1995 as the second model of the "Honda Creative Move" series, which offers ride comfort like a spacious passenger car and cabin. Equipped with typical features such as an integrated folding table that also serves as a rigid cargo floor under the carpet, this first generation CR-V confirmed the new vehicle genre, namely "UV urban". Sales started in the US in 1997 and expanded to Europe and Asia.

The second generation of 2011 comes featuring new packaging that further increases the size and usability of cabin space. Apart from Japan, North America, and Europe, sales of CR-V began in China, strengthening its position as a global Honda SUV model. Then in 2006 the third generation was born featuring a new design, which was completely changed from the previous box style to a more sophisticated and modern urban SUV style. The newly developed i-VTEC 2.4L engine and suspension further improved passenger driving performance, alertness, and comfort.

The fourth generation Honda CR-V came in 2011 and achieved significant improvements in terms of uses by displaying a slim and highly efficient aerodynamic body, extraordinary fuel efficiency and passenger comfort, as well as a wider cabin and cargo space. In 2011, cumulative global sales of CR-V reached a milestone of 5 million units.

In 2016 the fifth generation Honda CR-V lineup included a hybrid variant for the first time. Equipped with Honda's two-motorical hybrid system, SPORT HYBRID i-MMD, CR-V Hybrid marked a new chapter as an environmentally friendly SUV model. Furthermore, in Japan, Honda SENSING became standard equipment on all CR-V variants for the first time, improving its safety features to ensure customer peace of mind. In 2018, cumulative global sales reached a milestone in the history of 10 million units.

The sixth generation Honda CR-V model was born in 2022 and has been well received by various customers around the world, mostly in North America and China, based on its dynamic but sophisticated design and wider cabin space, as well as the tough driving performance of the hybrid system of two Honda e: HEV motorcycles for hybrid variants.

Continuing in 2024, this Japanese manufacturer became the first Japanese car manufacturer to introduce fuel cell vehicles with plug-in charging capabilities. Developed based on the sixth generation CR-V CR-V e:FCEV accommodates a variety of customer needs.