Despite top-five sales figures for 2024 and increasing values year-over-year, the Honda CR-V has its work cut out with its top rival. After the smoke of last year cleared, the CR-V was behind its closest competition by around 70,000 units. 

The Honda CR-V was the fifth best-selling vehicle in America last year, but trailed the Toyota RAV4 by tens of thousands

The Honda CR-V, the Japanese brand’s best-selling model, had a good year in 2024. Americans took home 402,791 of the popular little compact SUV last year, 41,334 more than the year before.

But even with top sales figures like those, the CR-V couldn’t quite keep pace with its closest competitor: the Toyota RAV4. Car shoppers in the United States bought 475,193 RAV4s last year, a 40,250-unit bump over 2023.

But the 9% increase also put the RAV4 in a record-breaking range that the CR-V simply didn’t match. Most notably, the Toyota SUV stole the US-market sales crown from the Ford F-150 for the first time in over 40 years.

Specifically, the Blue Oval sold 460,915 F-150 pickup trucks in 2024, a decrease of 5% year-over-year. While the F-Series of full-size trucks remained at the top with 732,139 units, the F-150’s individual figures weren’t enough to stop the compact Toyota SUV from taking the top spot.

However, the Honda CR-V couldn’t quite outsell the popular pickup truck. But, if the CR-V’s sales performances over the last few years are any indication, the disparity between the Toyota and Honda SUVs is shrinking. After all, the CR-V’s sales grew 52% from 2022 to 2023 and 11% from 2023 to 2024.

So, what’s going on here? In short, consumers have less of an appetite for larger, expensive trucks than before. Instead, compact SUVs and hybrids are increasing in popularity. Frankly, Honda says a sizable percentage of its 2024 CR-V sales were the available hybrid.