Information about City Car

A city car (or urban car) is a small, moderately powered automobile intended for use in urban areas. It is more substantial and faster than a neighborhood electric vehicle ("NEV") and has four seats, unlike microcars which are two-seaters; they are typically between 3400 mm and 3600 mm long. These cars have been sold in Europe since the 1960s, and now are an official car classification. Most mainstream manufacturers have one or even two city cars in their lineup.

Unlike an NEV, the city car's greater speed and occupant protection allow relatively safe operation in mixed traffic environments and in all weather conditions.

City cars are often used as station cars.

Internal combustion engine city cars

Early ages

One of the earliest city cars was the American-made Crosley, a four passenger vehicle from the late 1940's. While many cars of the 1960s are small enough to be considered city cars today, these cars have been replaced by larger cars with each passing generation. Exceptions are the smaller Fiats, especially the Fiat 500 and Fiat 126. They were in the region of 3.0 metres in length, but had seating for four people, putting them outside the microcar category.

The Fiat/SEAT Panda, launched in 1980, was 3.40m long but was clearly aimed at the city car category, and did not grow significantly larger during its development. The replacement for the 126, the Fiat Cinquecento was presented in 1991 as a true city car. At only 3200 mm long, it had room for four and entry-level prices.

The boom

In the late 1980s superminis had grown so much that many buyers wanted even smaller four-seat cars. Renault followed Fiat in 1993 with the Renault Twingo, which featured a MPV-like design and interior room, despite its size and height (3430 mm long and 1420 mm tall). Combined with an original exterior and interior design, it quickly became a best-seller. In 1996 the Ford Ka was presented with its radical New Edge design. Its egg-shaped body did not leave much room in the rear seats, but many customers did not need them and preferred the Ka over more conservative designs.

In the mid 1990s, South Korean brands Daewoo and Hyundai introduced their city car entries, both for the Asian and European markets. The Hyundai Atos, launched in 1997, was 3500 mm long and 1600 mm high, which was much taller than any European models (usually under 1450 mm) and provided considerable interior space. Its boxy shape provoked mixed reactions.

The Daewoo Matiz followed in 1998 with a Giorgetto Giugiaro design and a moderate height (1500 mm), which proved more eye-catching. Hyundai tried to react to this with the rounder Atos Prime but without much success.

These Korean city cars were much cheaper than most of the European models, especially the Opel Agila (2000) and Volkswagen Lupo (1999), yet were still reliable. However, sales were dominated by the Renault Twingo and Ford Ka.

City car / supermini crossovers

While small family cars and superminis grew considerably from the 1990s to the 2000s, so happened with city cars. After some new superminis were over 3900 mm long (like the Ford Fiesta, the SEAT Ibiza, Maruti Alto and the Volkswagen Polo) some many makers designed models above 3650 mm long.

The first of these models was the Nissan Micra (2002), which is 3720 mm long and smaller that many superminis of the late 1990s. Other cars are the Citroën C2, Suzuki Swift, Smart Forfour, Toyota Yaris and Peugeot 1007 (the last one which can also be labelled as a mini MPV).

These vehicles are hard to classify, since their size does not fit the "city car" or "supermini" categories. A possibility is to compare the price and interior room with superminis: the Yaris is definitely a supermini, whereas the Tata Indica is closer to a city car.

In addition, in the last few years some "true" city cars were released, like the Fiat Panda (2003), the Kia Picanto (2004) and the Citroën C1/Peugeot 107/Toyota Aygo trio. Other mainstream European manufacturers will release all-new models in 2007: the Renault Twingo, Fiat Nuova 500 and the Ford Ka.

See also

• Battery electric vehicle
• Car classification
• Dieselization
• Electric vehicle conversion
• List of current city cars and
• Microcar
• Microhybrid
• MIT Car
• Neighborhood electric vehicle
• Plug-in hybrid
• Supermini car
• Vehicle size class
• Smart Fortwo

Car classification
American English	British English	Segment	EuroNCAP	Example
Microcar	Microcar, Bubble car	-	-	Smart Fortwo
-	City car	A-segment	Supermini	Renault Twingo
Subcompact car	Supermini	B-segment		Hyundai Accent
Compact car	Small family car	C-segment	Small family car	Ford Focus
Mid-size car	Large family car	D-segment	Large family car	Volkswagen Passat
Entry-level luxury car	Compact executive car			Audi A4
Full-size car	Executive car	E-segment	Executive car	Chrysler 300
Mid-size luxury car				BMW 5 Series
Full-size luxury car	Luxury car	F-segment	-	Mercedes-Benz S-Class
Sports car	Sports car	-	-	Porsche 911
Grand tourer	Grand tourer	-	-	Jaguar XK
Supercar	Supercar	-	-	Ferrari F50
Convertible	Convertible	-	-	Volkswagen Eos
Roadster	Roadster	-	Roadster	BMW Z4
-	Leisure activity vehicle	B-segment	Small MPV	Peugeot Partner
-	Mini MPV	B-segment		Opel Meriva
Compact minivan	Compact MPV	C-segment		Mazda5
Minivan	Large MPV	D-segment	MPV	Toyota Previa
Mini SUV	Mini 4x4	B-segment	Small Off-Roader	Suzuki SX4
Compact SUV	Compact 4x4	C/D-segment		Honda CR-V
Mid-size crossover SUV	Large 4x4	E-segment	Large Off-Roader	BMW X5
Mid-size SUV	Off-roader	E-segment		Jeep Grand Cherokee
Full-size SUV		-		Cadillac Escalade