Chart Of The Day: Will The CR-V Eventually Be Honda's Accord?
In a manner of speaking, this chart is nothing more than anecdotal evidence. But it’s also evidence that’s been collected nationwide over the span of a decade from one of America’s largest auto sellers.
Proof that America is gradually moving away from traditional passenger cars to “crossovers” is better seen in a glance of the complete numbers for all vehicles. But the CR-V/Accord relationship is a useful one for telling a story.
As recently as 2006, American Honda sold more than two Accords for every CR-V. The CR-V’s reign as America’s favourite utility vehicle, suspended only briefly in 2011, began in 2007, a year in which Honda sold 1.8 Accords per CR-V. Fast forward to the first seven months of 2014 and Honda sells 1.2 copies of the Accord, America’s second-best-selling car, for every CR-V.
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"Crossovers" like the CRV are just basically modern stationwagons. It's too bad we can't get these with a manual transmission anymore in North America. One thing of note... in other markets like the UK, these are used for towing. Over there, depending on the model and transmission, the CRV is rated to tow 1500-1700KG (3300-3700 pounds) if the trailer has brakes. Half that without trailer brakes. In North America, the CRV is rated at a 'let's upsell people on something bigger' 1500 pounds.
I wouldn't consider a CRV if I didn't have 3 children,and I would not like to be seen dead in a minivan, but I'm not much of a fan of Sedans either (unless they are 4dr HT's and have tailfins,and maybe a big block to, but not as a daily driver) I prefer hatchback sedans, and if the Crosstour had been available over here (and had a slightly better looking tail) I would try to find a nice used one. 4wd is a nice bonus, roughly 10 times a year ( so I don't need a Jeep) PS, even here in Europe, where we still have stationwagons, most of them feel cramped in the back after driving the CRV for a while. Just reaching in and fastening the kids seatbelts and chairs is a chore , even in a 'Fullsizer' like a Mazda 6 or Mondeo.
The chart is not anecdotal evidence, it's objective research based evidence. Somebody at Honda accounted for all sales of units and made a bar graph of them. Anecdotal would be if Honda dealers just guessed and wrote their own stories about how often they see Accords vs. CR-Vs. In fact the number of years of research show a clear trend as CR-Vs sales are close to reaching parity though it suggests that Accord sales aren't being eaten into by the same people. Just a simple note of point because I don't mind anecdotal evidence in many cases of inconsequential views but this isn't anecdotal.
With the success of the CR-V, I wonder how soon Honda will introduce a smaller CUV based on the Fit?