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Subcompact cars

Mini SUV

A subcompact car is a car in a vehicle size class smaller than a compact car but larger than a city car (see supermini for European small cars). Such cars usually have four or more seats (whereas microcars such as the Smart tend to have two) and in North America, subcompacts are usually considered to be those cars that have a wheelbase of 2.54 metres (100 inches) or less or between 85 ft³ (2400 L) and 99 ft³ (2800 L) of interior volume (though popular usage of the term frequently ignores these boundaries). Subcompacts/superminis are most commonly sold in Europe and Japan where they enjoy enormous popularity, and are reasonably popular in North America.

This type of car was first seen in North America in the 1950s with the introduction of the Nash Metropolitan and a number of imported models, although the subcompact did not see wider adoption until the 1970s with such cars as the Ford Pinto and Chevrolet Vega. Today numerous models of subcompacts are sold, including the Toyota Vitz (also sold as the Toyota Echo & Yaris), the Scion xA, the Kia Rio, the Chevrolet Aveo, and the Hyundai Accent.

In 1971, Ford and GM introduced their subcompact models, with AMC's Gremlin having been the first introduced in April 1970. Of the four large American companies that were making cars at that point, only Chrysler did not develop a domestic subcompact car, electing instead to import models produced by its British and Japanese affiliates (the Plymouth Cricket and Dodge Colt respectively). Although they were all strong sellers in their time, none of the early subcompacts are well thought of today, with the AMC Gremlin, Ford Pinto and Chevrolet Vega placing 4th, 3rd and 2nd, respectively, in Car Talk's Worst Car of the Millennium contest. The 'winner' was another subcompact, the Yugo.

See also

• List of recent subcompact cars
• Vehicle size class
• Car classification

External links

• Official US government car size class definitions
• Subcompactcars.com
• Hatchmania (forum)

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This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.