American Honda is on course to sell around 400,000 examples of this SUV in 2025. It’s big in China too, helping the brand to what should be around 300,000 deliveries this year, split between the Dongfeng-Honda CR-V and its GAC-Honda Breeze twin.
As we know, Europe is a different story. Yet given how many new OEMs have entered the segments where Honda competes, what should be around 70,000 brand sales isn’t too bad at all. And a strategy which has had a strong focus on HEV and PHEV models is proving to have been an insightful one. Which brings us to the UK market’s latest CR-V, available as both a hybrid and a plug-in hybrid.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
UK-based Honda Europe has been quietly pursuing a determined move to shift its image towards the premium end of the market, similar to what Mazda has done. Volume and the number of models might be nothing like they once were yet it does seem to be working. And the CR-V sits at the top of the model tree in Britain and dozens of other European countries.
Lots and lots of lovely buttons
New in 2022, the present generation is yet to have a facelift though American Honda has just added a little more black exterior trim for its 2026 model year CR-V along with a new lower grille. There’s also now a rugged Trailsport variant though no sign of that one coming to the UK, at least not yet. So what we see in Britain is more or less the same vehicle as what’s available in the number one global market.
Pricing is premium and so it’s good to open the driver’s door and sense that yes, this is a step up from so many Chinese brand generic-look SUVs. Even better, there is a sense of this being a Honda, insomuch as a no-gimmicks and no overcomplicated technology approach is everywhere to be seen. And touched. Big, clear instrumentation, lovely P-R-N-D/S buttons to press for the automatic transmission’s functions, physical HVAC controls, etc.
A dashboard just like the Civic’s
Honda gives you a big boot, easy-folding seats, hard-wearing yet soft surfaces everywhere, simple to deactivate ADAS (though Lane Assist isn’t intrusive) and a dash-top screen with intelligently arranged icons plus a delightfully tactile music volume dial.
Fuel economy is claimed to be 42.2 mpg but I found it easy to get an even better average than that, 45-50 being possible without too much effort. You can even get just shy of a rather remarkable 600 miles on one tank. And while I haven’t driven the e:PHEV, the official range in EV mode is up to 50 miles. The Combined CO2 average is 151 g/km for both as they share a 135 kW (184 PS) and 335 Nm 1,993 cc engine.
Standard 4×4 drive for the hybrid
For the British market, four-wheel drive comes standard for each of the two e:HEV (i.e. series hybrid) trim levels whereas the plug-in hybrid has drive only the front tyres. Unusually, the e:PHEV has a lot more luggage space as there is no prop-shaft and its (17.7 kWh) battery is positioned below the passengers.
Honda places the e:HEV’s battery in a different location – you guessed it, below the boot – which is why capacities are respectively 563 (hybrid) and 635 (PHEV) litres. And this is one of the most fascinating things about the e:HEV and e:PHEV variants: they have the same engine with identical outputs, the main difference being a bigger capacity battery for the CR-V which can be connected to a socket. They even look the same; well aside from a second flap which is positioned in the passenger side front wing.
Two not three rows of seats
Anyone in the back of the CR-V will be more than happy with the amount of room available, plus the seats can be slid further back and reclined. This is however, no 5+2 three-row option and that applies to both powertrains.
For the keen driver there are some better alternatives in the segment, such as the BMW X3 or Ford Kuga but the Honda’s standard four-wheel drive definitely comes into its own against certain cheaper class entrants such as the Kia Sportage. Body roll is well suppressed but the steering could be a little sharper.
Summary
It’s far from being the most keenly priced D segment family SUV but this doesn’t seem to matter for the brand’s loyal customers, the Honda name and reputation mattering more. There is a reason why so many of the many older generations of CR-V are still running strongly on not just UK roads but the world over – a hard-earned name for durability.
On balance then might this circa-fifty thousand pounds model be worth the extra cost for those suspicious of seemingly better value alternatives? Some million new owners a year the world over must know something?
There are three CR-V variants to choose from: e:HEV Elegance (GBP47,350), e:HEV Advance (GBP50,470) or e:PHEV Advance Tech (GBP49,930).
