The global popularity of the Honda CR-V has been further underlined by research revealing that it is the world’s best-selling SUV so far in 2014.

The figures, provided by global automotive market consulting specialists, Focus2Move, show worldwide sales of the CR-V to the end of May totalled 286,685 units. The results for 2014 to date follow on from 2013 and 2012, where the CR-V also took the annual title of World’s Best-Selling SUV.

The top 50 chart of the world’s best-selling cars puts the CR-V at number 10 overall for the year, well above any other SUV’s including the Toyota RAV4, Hyundai Santa Fe, Volkswagen Tiguan and the Nissan Qashqai.

Much of the success of the CR-V on the world stage can be attributed to the original concept of the car which it continues to assert – the original CR-V created the modern SUV segment when it was introduced in 1998 with a vehicle offering the optimum balance between the efficiency and performance of a saloon, and the practicality, versatility and safety of an SUV.

The global popularity of the CR-V is mirrored by very strong demand from buyers in the Irish Market. Always a popular SUV with Irish drivers, the CR-V has been boosted in 2014 by the introduction of the 1.6 i-DTEC model, addressing the increasing demand for low emission diesel engines and the growing trend towards two-wheel drive SUVs. The success of the new model means Irish CR-V sales have increased by a phenomenal 220% this year as the CR-V climbs Ireland’s SUV sales charts.