Honda CR-V vs Mazda CX-5 - lose here, win there

Selling well in one market but not in another is a common phenomenon in the automobile industry. According to long-time sales experts, each company's shopping habits, sales methods, product configuration... lead to different receptions from users in different markets. The Honda CR-V and Mazda CX-5 duo is such a case.

In Vietnam, as of September, Mazda CX-5 and Honda CR-V are the two best-selling models in the C-size crossover (CUV) segment. However, the price and sales gap between CX-5 and CR-V is huge. While in other markets, the situation is not the same.

CX-5 sales after the first 9 months of 2023 were 10,836 vehicles, nearly 3 times higher than CR-V (3,733 vehicles) in Vietnam. Meanwhile, in Thailand, Honda's sales (5,935 vehicles) were 20 times higher than its rival Mazda CX-5 (294 vehicles). The second best-selling model after CR-V in Thailand is Haval H6 (2,494 vehicles).

The new generation CR-V has been on sale in Thailand since April 2023 and has immediately risen to number one in its segment in terms of sales. Three months earlier, the CR-V was in a state of liquidation, with low sales, and the Haval H6 was leading the segment. In this country, the selling prices of the CR-V and CX-5 are not as different as in Vietnam. The standard version of the CR-V is nearly $2,000 more expensive than the lowest version of the CX-5. The highest version, on the contrary, is nearly $4,000 less than the CX-5.

The SUV segment in general in Thailand accounts for a relatively small market share because the market's preference is for pickup trucks. For the C-size CUV segment alone, total sales of the segment after 9 months reached 11,714 vehicles, accounting for less than 1% of the total 586,870 vehicles sold, according to the Thai Automobile Manufacturers Association (FTI).

In the past two years, the Haval H6 (China) has become the dark horse of the C-size CUV segment in Thailand but has not been able to overthrow the top position of the CR-V. In 2022, Honda's model sold 4,938 cars, the H6 was close with 4,135 cars sold. Meanwhile, the Mazda CX-5 sold modestly with 824 cars. The CX-5 in Thailand is still selling the old version, not the latest mid-cycle upgrade.

Unlike the two markets in Southeast Asia, the selling prices of the CX-5 and CR-V in the US are similar. In terms of sales, Honda sold 262,351 cars, more than double that of its domestic rival Mazda. The sales king of the segment in this market is the Toyota RAV4 with sales of 302,831 cars.

In the US, the Honda CR-V has 6 versions for customers to choose from, while the CX-5 has 8 versions. Compared to domestic competitors such as Toyota and Honda, the Mazda brand is weaker. Mazda's sales in the US in 2022 reached nearly 300,000 vehicles, while Toyota's were more than 1.7 million vehicles, and Honda's were more than 880,000 vehicles, according toStatista.

In Thailand, Honda sold more than 82,000 vehicles in 2022, ranking third in the market after Toyota (288,809 vehicles) and Isuzu (212,491 vehicles). In Vietnam, Mazda sold 36,052 vehicles, ranking fifth in the market. Honda ranked second with 30,645 vehicles.

CX-5 in Vietnam is assembled and distributed by Truong Hai (Thaco). The characteristic is that it is a Vietnamese company, operated and sold by Vietnamese people, not only CX-5, but most of Mazda's remaining models are more flexible than Japanese joint ventures such as Toyota, Honda in building product configurations... Thanks to this, Mazda and Kia models (all distributed by Thaco) have a higher frequency of product renewal than their competitors, even though sometimes it is just a few light equipments. The selling price can also be adjusted continuously.

749-999 million VND is the selling price of the mid-cycle upgraded Mazda CX-5 from July. This shocking price breaks the floor of 800 million VND for the C-size CUV segment, forcing competitors such as Tucson, Forester, Tiguan... or other models in neighboring segments to reduce prices accordingly. Cumulative sales of Mazda CX-5 up to September reached 10,836 vehicles, ranking fourth in the list of best-selling models in the Vietnamese market, after Mitsubishi Xpander, Hyundai Accent, Ford Ranger.

In Vietnam, the CR-V is rated higher than the CX-5 by experts in terms of performance, driving feel, and durability. But one of the biggest obstacles for Honda models to compete with rivals in sales is price.

Honda cars are often priced higher than Japanese and Korean products. Price is the strength of CX-5 but the weakness of CR-V. However, high pricing is not necessarily a complete disadvantage. Because in terms of sales strategy, high price is also a way to affirm product quality, positioning the car model separately from competitors.

The new generation of CR-V launched on October 25 has the lowest price of 1.109 billion VND, 360 million VND higher than the lowest version of CX-5, almost equivalent to a new A-size hatchback. As for the most expensive version, the price of CR-V is also more than 300 million VND higher than CX-5. Excluding Volkswagen Tiguan (1.999 billion VND) with insignificant sales, Honda's CR-V is the most expensive model in the segment.