The CR-V could bid goodbye to Japan, as the Honda HR-V dominates sales charts
Sanjay · Mar 20, 2022 10:00 AM
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Though the Honda CR-V still perches comfortably in sales charts worldwide (it was Honda Malaysia's third best-seller in 2021), slow sales in Japan mean that it's bound to be discontinued there.
For customers in Japan, their star is the Vezel (known as the Honda HR-V to us). Introduced in April 2021, it still lit 2021's sales charts with an average of 4,390 units sold per month there. In other words, this is about 12 times more than the CR-V manages monthly, which Best Car Web reports as around 370 units per month.
Part of that comes from the CR-V's size, which is deemed a little too big for Japan. On the broader scale this a segment-wide issue, as even the Mazda CX-5 and Nissan X-Trail averaged about 1,400 and 1,001 units sold monthly respectively last year, and for most Japanese customers, the HR-V is just enough.
The Japanese prefer MPVs with sliding doors more than SUVs, which explains why vehicles like the Toyota Voxy and Toyota Alphard do much better than traditional SUV counterparts. For context, Toyota sold roughly 7,920 units and about 5,840 units of the Alphard and Voxy each month last year, respectively.
The North American-spec CR-V
However, this doesn't mean that the CR-V nameplate won't exist anymore. Far from it actually, considering it does well in other parts of the world and in the USA, in which an average of 30,000 units found new owners monthly in 2021.
Hints of the upcoming CR-V
While Japan may miss out on it, there will also be an all-new generation of the CR-V coming. Lots of it are still under wraps, but a recent patent image leak has shed light on its exterior design.
The current-generation Honda CR-V is still sold in Malaysia, and prices start from RM 139,912 (SST-free until 30-June 2022). We'll also be welcoming the next-gen 2022 Honda HR-V on our shores within the second half of the year.
With humble beginnings collecting diecast models and spending hours virtually tuning dream cars on the computer, his love of cars has delightfully transformed into a career. Sanjay enjoys how the same passion for cars transcends boundaries and brings people together.
