It may be a familiar shape now, but the Honda CR-V was more of a niche model when it was introduced in 1995. 30 years later, it’s now Honda’s best-selling model and effectively helped reshape the automotive landscape.
2025 isn’t just the CR-V’s 30th birthday, though. It’s a double celebration for Honda as it announced that it has sold over 15 million units of the pioneering crossover. Yes, that much.
The Honda CR-V saw about 854,000 unit sales in 2024 alone. It was an increase of 1% over 2023 sales, and the model has been consistently at the top of the brand’s internal sales charts for nearly a decade now. It’s also the fourth best-selling car in the world, beating out the Toyota Corolla, Toyota Hilux, Ford F-150, Toyota Camry, Tesla Model Y, and Nissan Sentra.
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And to further emphasize the importance of this model in Honda’s portfolio, the CR-V is the only one that ranked in the world’s top 10 best-sellers list. The Civic is in 16th place, the Accord is in 19th, and the HR-V is in 47th.
With that, Honda has also announced that the CR-V is coming back to the Japanese market. If that sounds like a bit of a surprise, that’s because it hasn’t been sold there for nearly three years. The Japanese specification model will make its debut at the upcoming Japan Mobility Show by the end of October.
Since 1995, six generations of the Honda CR-V have been released. Launched in Japan that year, the first-generation went global in 1997. The second-generation arrived in 2001, further expanding its market reach and added the option of diesel power. In 2006, it shifted to a more wagon-like appearance and continues to be the foundation for succeeding models.
Come the fourth-generation launched in 2011, the CR-V had established itself as a smash hit with global sales reaching 5 million units. A few years later in 2015, it would take the mantle away from the Civic as Honda’s best-selling model. The fifth-generation model made its world debut in 2016 and introduced hybrid power for the first time. And as for the current generation that premiered in 2022, it boasts a new hybrid system dubbed e:HEV and reached the 15 million unit sales milestone.
Given that more and more customers are choosing crossovers over sedans, hatchbacks, and wagons these days, it’s safe to say that the CR-V will retain its title of the world’s best-selling Honda for years to come. While it’s still far off the Civic’s 27 million sales, it might not be long before the CR-V reaches that figure.
