Every car type explained: a buyer’s guide to new car classes, body styles and market sectors
Your handy guide to the different kinds of car that you might encounter on today’s new car market…
While it might sometimes feel like every car on the roads is the same shape these days, there’s still a bewildering array of car types, market sectors and body styles to choose from on the new car market.
You’ll have seen many of these referenced in Auto Express road tests, and perhaps wondered how we differentiate between them – and how we choose groups of cars to test when comparing one vehicle with its rivals.
European automotive standards help to a degree, but terms like ‘A-segment’, ‘C-segment’ and ‘J-segment’ don’t help if you’re not clued-up on what they refer to. Instead we go by more common colloquial terms like “city car”, “family hatch” and “SUV” (the latter being the aforementioned J-segment – how many of you had to look that up?).
Below we’ve explained what we mean when we talk about each vehicle category, what kind of cars you can expect to find in these segments, and some of the key characteristics. You’ll also find a bit of an explainer on less defined terms like “performance car”, and how many doors a car might have.
City car
These are the smallest cars on sale – the city car name taken from their diminutive dimensions making them best-suited of all cars to scooting through narrow streets and taking up minimal space when parked. The city car class is known as the A-segment as the smallest on the market.
The original city cars were the postwar bubble cars and then models like the Mini and Fiat 500. The class had a renaissance in the 1990s led by Fiat’s Cinquecento, the Renault Twingo and the Ford Ka, but the expense of safety tech and electrification looked like killing off the class – until budget models like the Dacia Spring, Leapmotor T03 and Hyundai Inster arrived to save the day.
These are the best city cars to buy...
Supermini
The supermini class is where you’ll find cars like the Volkswagen Polo, Renault Clio, and Europe’s best-seller, the Dacia Sandero. Coined in the 1970s with the arrival of cars like the Fiat 127, supermini literally described cars that were larger than city cars like the Mini. The class tends to be made up of three- and five-door hatchbacks – though the modern MINI, which is now a supermini itself, is also offered in convertible form. Like most cars, superminis have grown over the years, so most are now as large and practical as a family hatch from a couple of decades ago.
These are the best superminis to buy...
Family hatch
This is another best-selling car class, and it’s where you’ll today find the Ford Focus, Volkswagen Golf, and while it’s a larger member of the breed, the Honda Civic. Until fairly recently, these cars were huge sellers in the UK – from the mid 1970s until the mid 1990s, the Ford Escort was the most popular vehicle on UK roads, and from the late 90s until the late 00s, the Focus held the same position.
Over the years this class has included three- and five-door hatchbacks, and four-door saloons – though disappearance of the latter means we tend to refer to the class as family hatchbacks today. These cars are often thought-of as the smallest cars you can get away with as the main car for a family of four, with decent rear legroom and boot space.
These are the best hatchbacks to buy...
Family car
Stepping up in size once again, the mainstream family car class was another that once dominated the sales charts but has dwindled in recent decades, replaced by compact executive cars thanks to the rise of car financing, and latterly by medium-size SUVs. Popular cars that used to roam this class included the Ford Mondeo, Vauxhall Vectra, and Renault Laguna, but today you’re looking at a more limited crop including the Skoda Octavia, cars that blur the line between hatchback and crossover like the Peugeot 408, or the electric Hyundai Ioniq 6. Five-door hatches and estates, and four-door saloons are prevalent in the family car segment.
These are the best family cars to buy...
Compact executive car
This class once represented a step up in prestige over regular family cars, but when leasing, PCPs and Hire Purchase became the dominant methods of buying cars, suddenly the market for cars like the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, and Mercedes C-Class exploded, as their strong residuals often made monthly payments lower than more humdrum models.
In the 2000s, the 3 Series overtook the Mondeo in the sales charts – and the rest is history. Compact execs are still very popular, and their kind has expanded into the electric car space, with models like the Tesla Model 3 and the BMW i4.
Executive car
Another class of car that was once a genuine status symbol, since cars like the BMW 5 Series required a significant extra financial investment over a 3 Series – or a flashy job title and a hefty company car allowance. Like compact execs, executive cars are more commonplace than they used to be, but popular saloon and estate body shapes are often now joined by large five-door fastbacks, such as the Audi A7. The class was shaken up by the introduction of the Tesla Model S in 2012, and most manufacturers now offer dedicated electric models in this class, such as the BMW i5 and Mercedes EQE.
These are the best executive cars to buy...
Luxury
Luxury cars still have the gravitas they had since the dawn of the automobile, though the class is broader than it once was. One of the best-known is the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, frequently described as the “best car in the world” over the years – though the likes of the Bentley Flying Spur and Rolls-Royce Phantom take things even further.
Mostly saloons, it’s not unusual these days to find SUVs in the luxury car class – think Range Rover, Bentley Bentayga, and Rolls-Royce Cullinan – or coupes, such as the all-electric Rolls-Royce Spectre. Some old hands have muscled back into the market too, such as the Cadillac Celestique in the US market.
These are the best luxury cars to buy...
SUVs
If you drive a car in the UK, you’ll be fully aware of the huge popularity of SUVs. Sports Utility Vehicles were originally specialised off-road vehicles with a few extra creature comforts but they’ve evolved to take-over the mainstream of the car market with their tough looks and higher ride heights loved by consumers. SUVs now come in all shapes and sizes mirroring the more traditional market sectors above…
Small SUV
Small SUVs tend to be based on the (B-segment) superminis mentioned further up, and their rapid increase in popularity (kicked off by the Nissan Juke in the 2010s) means that in a lot of cases, they’ve taken over from superminis entirely – Ford no longer sells the Fiesta, but still offers the Puma.
While they’re more expensive, often a little slower, thirstier, and not as good to drive as regular superminis, small SUVs are loved by buyers for their styling, slightly raised driving positions, and a small increase in interior space over the equivalent supermini.
These are the best small SUVs to buy...
Mid-size SUV
These are the family hatch and family car equivalents of the MPV world. There’s no set size for medium SUVs, other than that they squeeze somewhere between smaller models like the Juke, and large SUVs like the BMW X5. Anything from a Nissan Qashqai and Renault Scenic, to a BMW X3 or Mercedes-Benz GLC fits the bill, so there’s a real range of prestige and performance on offer, not to mention price: the cheapest medium SUVs are under £30,000, but high-performance versions of some models, or electric versions, can close in on £100,000. Five and seven-seat layouts are common.
These are the best mid-size SUVs to buy...
Large SUV
Like medium SUVs, the large SUV class covers a fairly wide range of models, from the merely big (BMW X5s and Audi Q7s) to the absolutely gargantuan by UK standards (such as the 5.2-metre long Mercedes GLS, or 5.4-metre Land Rover Defender 130). Most are pretty heavy too: kerb weights of more than two tonnes are not uncommon, and some get close to three tonnes, especially those with electric power with heavy batteries slung underneath. These SUVs tend to have high seating positions, plenty of interior space, ample performance, and luxury car features, with price tags from upwards of £50,000 stretching well into six figures.
These are the best large SUVs to buy...
Coupe SUV
This category sprung up with the launch of the BMW X6 in 2008. BMW called that car a “Sport Activity Coupe” to differentiate it from slightly more frumpy traditional SUVs, but we’d just call it a coupe SUV these days, however far it strays from the original ‘coupe’ definition.
You’ll find them across all the different sizes of SUVs, from the ‘small coupe SUV’ Volkswagen Taigo, to the X6 in the large coupe SUV class, but the general layout is a five-door SUV body with a roofline that begins sloping towards the back of the car. In theory, you’re trading practicality for extra style, but we’ll let you be the judge of that.
Crossover
This nebulous class of vehicle is often used to describe small and medium SUVs that are so road-biased they barely fit the SUV definition, so it encompasses several of the vehicles mentioned above. But it can also cover oddities like the Peugeot 408 and Citroen C5-X, which are definitely taller than traditional saloons and hatches but couldn’t really be called SUVs either. It also fits for the jacked-up, plastic clad versions of hatchbacks and estate cars that pop up now and then, such as the Fiat Panda 4x4, Subaru Crosstrek and Audi A4 Allroad – as well as now-forgotten oddities like the Mercedes R-Class, the brand’s late-2000s MPV/SUV mongrel.
These are the best crossover cars to buy...
MPV
MPV stands for Multi Purpose Vehicle. These cars are sometimes called people-carriers, or you might have heard the US term “minivan”. Essentially, it’s a car where maximum interior space and passenger capacity is the goal. Most MPVs will have six or seven seats rather than the usual four or five, though in the 1990s and 2000s, smaller five-seat models were common. The category has almost disappeared from the European market in the 2020s, replaced mostly by seven-seat SUVs instead, which are nowhere near as space-efficient. Today the only ‘proper’ MPVs are van-based models, detailed below.
Van based MPV
The truly practical MPV has been survived by the van-based MPV. The clue’s in the name with this one, as most are based on commercial models – the Peugeot Rifter is based on the Partner van, the Volkswagen Multivan on the Transporter, and the Ford Tourneo Custom is essentially a Transit Custom with more seats and windows. While they still look mostly like vans, fancy trim and extra kit helps them feel more car-like, plus vans drive a lot better than they used to. The benefits include everything from practical sliding doors to huge interior space for people and luggage.
Convertible
If you want to feel the wind in your hair and the sun on your face while driving (disclaimer: probably a lot more of the former than the latter in the UK) then, along with roadsters below, the convertible is the car for you.
This is essentially any car with a folding or removable roof arrangement rather than a fixed roof. Most are based on existing cars – a MINI Convertible for instance is based on the MINI Cooper hatchback, with a fabric roof that retracts and then folds behind the rear seats. In some cars, like the Fiat 500C, you essentially get a long fabric sunroof that retracts all the way back and some cars have folding metal roofs for a little extra security.
These are the best convertible cars and cabriolets to buy...
Roadster
In historical terms a roadster is a two-seat, open-topped car with sporty styling and driving behaviour. The term is often used interchangeably with “sports car”, since most roadsters also fall into that definition, but aside from one or two erroneous uses of the term, all roadsters are of the two-seat open-top variety.
Examples of modern roadsters include the Mazda MX-5 and Porsche 718 Boxster. Rear-wheel drive isn’t a prerequisite – the front-drive Daihatsu Copen, Fiat Barchetta and Lotus Elan M100 were all roadsters too. And you don’t necessarily even need a roof: step forward Morgan Super 3.
Coupe
The term coupe historically referred to a two-door car with one or two rows of seats, a luggage area separated from the passenger space as it is in a saloon, and a lower, sleeker profile than the car it’s based on; think BMW 4 Series which is a sportier take on the BMW 3 Series.
It was never a hard and fast definition though (as illustrated by the four-door Rover P5 Coupe of the 1960s, and the hatchback VW Scirocco of the 1970s) and over the last few decades the name has been thrown around with abandon. You’ll find it on everything from sloping-roofed saloons like the BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe, to hunchbacked SUVs like the Mercedes GLE Coupe. Of course, we pronounce it like the French, rather than the American “coop”.
These are the best coupes to buy...
Sports car
‘Sports car’ is one of few automotive terms even more contested than ‘coupe’, but broadly speaking it refers to any car purpose-designed for driving fun and/or performance – so hot hatches and supersaloons, despite being fast, aren’t really sports cars, as they’re based on more mundane vehicles. Supercars are sports cars, but not all sports cars are supercars – generally, a sports car’s performance, and the cars themselves, are a little more accessible. The Mazda MX-5 is probably where the modern sports car starts, and the Porsche 911 or Lotus Emira where it tops out before you’re into the realm of supercars.
These are the best sports cars to buy...
Supercar
Supercar is another definition that’s hard to settle on, but there’s also an element of ‘you’ll know it when you see it’ with these high-performance, low-slung models. Often, but not always mid-engined – a Mercedes SLS AMG or a Ferrari 12Cilindri is absolutely a supercar, despite their engines being ahead of the driver – a supercar’s style is often as important as its performance; these cars are for posing, as much as driving.
Modern marvels like the Ferrari 296 GTB, Lamborghini Temerario, Maserati MC20, Chevrolet Corvette C8, and McLaren Artura are all supercars, irrespective of their number of cylinders, hybrid assistance, or the badge on the front.
These are the best supercars to buy...
Hypercar
The Bugatti Veyron of 2005 was arguably the first hypercar, a car that took performance to a level far beyond that of any conventional supercar to that point – though some might argue the McLaren F1 did likewise the previous decade.
Hypercars are, like the amplifiers in Spinal Tap, supercars that have been turned up to eleven, with wilder styling, giddier performance figures, amazing technology, and unfathomable expense. The Ferrari LaFerrari, McLaren P1 and Porsche 918 Spyder set the modern template, but an even more exclusive badge also helps: think Pagani Utopia, Bugatti Tourbillon, and Koenigsegg Gemera.
Track car
Track cars are somewhat self-explanatory: Any car designed primarily for use on a racing circuit, without being an actual racing car. Plenty of regular performance road cars are suitable for track use, such as Porsche 911 GT3s or most of the Caterham range, but a track car prioritises on-track use before any road usability. Examples from the last decade or so include the BAC Mono and Lotus 3-Eleven, but there’s also a market for ultra high-end track cars, such as the McLaren Senna GTR, Ferrari FXX-K, and Aston Martin Vulcan, none of which are intended for road use.
These are the best track day cars to buy...
Performance car
This is less a category of car than a broad term that covers all models designed with performance in mind. That doesn’t mean straight line speed alone – the unexpectedly powerful 422bhp twin-motor Volvo EX30 isn’t really a performance car, despite a 3.6-second 0-62mph time, as it can’t back up that shove with matching handling, braking, or even driving fun. The term can encompass hatches, sports cars, supersaloons, supercars, hypercars, and track cars though – and it’s why you’ll see all shapes, sizes, and even prices in our best performance car list.
These are the best performance cars to buy...
How many doors?
Several of the market sectors mentioned above contain cars with a variety of body styles, so you’ll often see phrases like ‘five-door hatchback’ or ‘four-door coupe’ used. Generally speaking, an even number of doors (two-door coupe, four-door saloon) tends to mean you get the number of doors in question, but the vehicle has a luggage area separated from the passenger compartment, like a traditional saloon like the BMW 3 Series, or quirky cars from the past like the Mazda RX-8 with its reverse-hinged rear doors, but a traditional boot.
Odd numbers (three-door hatchback, five-door hatchback) mean two or four doors, plus an extra ‘door’ which is the tailgate, and a luggage area that’s part of the passenger compartment. The majority of city cars, superminis, and family cars fit into this category – a Dacia Spring is a five-door hatchback, as is a Volkswagen Golf (since VW dropped the three-door version).
Estates are an extension of this, literally and figuratively – these days, estates tend to have a “five-door” layout. “Four-door coupes” though are a little trickier. Most have the typical saloon layout (four doors and a separate boot) just with a more steeply raked roofline (such as a Mercedes CLS) but plenty of cars that are technically five-door hatchbacks (like the Audi A5 Sportback or Volkswagen Arteon) are often described as four-door coupes by their manufacturers. We’ll always make clear which layout the car has in our reviews.
We’ve covered regular coupes in their own section above, but a special mention for the old Hyundai Veloster, which had an asymmetric door layout, with one on the driver’s side and two on the passenger side, so could be variously described as a three or four-door hatch or coupe, depending on your interpretation. The 2007-2014 MINI Clubman meanwhile also had one door on one side and two on the other (with a rear-hinged rear door for the latter), but also two tailgate doors, like a van – so was it a three, four, or five-door estate? Some cars defy categorisation…
Light commercial vehicles
So we arrive at the true workhorses of the automotive world. The term commercial vehicles refers to all goods vehicles but ‘light commercial vehicles’ are those that you can drive on a normal car licence - although the very largest ones require a C1 licence if you passed your test after January 1997.
Small van
This category has changed in parallel with the car market. Once the small van market was teeming with supermini-based models, or tall, upright vans like the Bedford Rascal. Today when we say small van, we’re referring to models like the Citroen Berlingo, Renault Kangoo, Ford Transit Courier, or car-based models like the Toyota Corolla Courier or even Land Rover Defender Hardtop. Some of these certainly aren’t physically small, but their load space and payload tends to be much less than that of vans in the next class up, while for the most part (maybe not that Land Rover) running costs should be lower too.
These are the best small vans to buy...
Medium van
Medium vans are probably what your mind goes to when you think of a panel van: this is where the Ford Transit Custom resides, and by extension, several previous generations of the ubiquitous “white van man” Transit. Other vans in this class include the Renault Trafic, Volkswagen Transporter and the Volkswagen ID.Buzz Cargo – the latter being all-electric, a powertrain choice increasingly common in this class. Cargo volume tends to be between 6-9 cubic metres in this class (the ID.Buzz is a little smaller), or enough for two or three Euro pallets, with payloads of close to 1.5 tonnes in some models.
These are the best medium panel vans to buy...
Large van
If you’ve ever had a Mercedes Sprinter six inches from your bumper on the M1, you’ll have been up close and personal with the vehicles we describe as large vans. These are the biggest panel vans on the market, and as well as the Sprinter, you’ll find vans such as the Volkswagen Crafter, Renault Master, and the Ford Transit (with no suffix). Cargo space here tends to be upwards of 15 cubic metres and payloads of 2-3 tonnes, while all have high roofs and long wheelbases. Once again, electric power is becoming increasingly common in this class.
These are the best panel large vans to buy...
Pick-up
Pick-up trucks can look quite different depending on where in the world you live, but most of the models on sale in the UK are classed as ‘mid-size’ trucks globally – think vehicles like the Ford Ranger, Volkswagen Amarok (today based on the Ranger), Toyota Hilux, KGM Musso, Isuzu D-Max, and the recent Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster. A payload of around a tonne is common, as is a 3.5-tonne towing limit, while equipment levels and comfort are far better than they used to be in pickups. Many are still a bit agricultural to drive though, at their best only with a load in the bed to tame the suspension.
These are the best pick-up trucks to buy...
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