Honda raises CR-V Sport value by almost $5000

HONDA has followed up a substantial $2300 price cut on its mid-range CR-V Sport late last year with a load of additional equipment on both the Sport and Luxury variants in the New Year as it fights to maintain the recovery of its one-time top-selling compact SUV in the fastest-growing segment of the market.

The temporary ‘Extra Pack’ offer – including roof racks, side steps and DVD unit – is claimed to add $2500 of value to the two top-end CR-V models, and will be free until the end of March 2011, while stocks last.

But when a price cut that dropped the sticker price of the CR-V Sport manual from $38,790 to $36,490 in November is included, the value of the best-selling CR-V model has effectively jumped almost $5000 in two months.

The price cut is the second on the Sport in less than a year. In February 2010, the facelifted CR-V was accompanied with across-the-board price reductions that dropped the price of the CR-V Sport from $42,290 to $38,790 (plus on-road costs).

That range facelift and price cut helped to drive a 42 per cent rise in CR-V sales in 2010, with the December price slash on Sport and a special LE base model contributing to a whopping 71 per cent spike in volume for the last month of the year.

Honda sold 7244 CR-Vs in 2010, up from 5103 in 2009. However, the 2010 tally is still short of Honda’s 2008 CR-V sales figure of 9812 units.

The CR-V – once the best-selling compact SUV on the market with a high of 12,866 sales in 2000 – was ranked sixth in the segment in 2010. The top-selling Subaru Forester and Toyota RAV4 both outsold the Honda AWD wagon by a factor of two to one.

Since 2003, compact SUV sales volume in Australia has grown 56 per cent, from 73,235 vehicles to 114,761, making it the fastest expanding segment in the market. Last year alone, it jumped 36.6 per cent as it recovered from a GFC-hit 2009.

Despite the heat in the segment, the number of entries has only increased from 18 to 23 in the past seven years.

The CR-V Extra Pack includes a high-resolution all-in-one DVD, CD and MP3 unit with wireless headphones, an SD card slot and USB port. It can also be connected to a games console or digital camera.

The offer does not apply to the base CR-V Standard, but Honda has been offering a special edition LE version of that specification, adding alloy wheels, rear park assists, floor mats and Bluetooth phone system for just $500 over the $30,990 base price.

Although that offer has officially ended, some remnants of stock might still be available at Honda dealers.