Compact car

A compact car (North America), or small family car in British acceptation, is a classification of cars that are larger than a subcompact car but smaller than a mid-size car, equating roughly to the C-segment in Europe.

Definitions

Current compact car size, as defined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for the US and for international models respectively, is approximately 4,100 mm (161 in) and 4,450 mm (175 in) long for hatchbacks, or 4,400 mm (173 in) and 4,750 mm (187 in) long for convertibles, sedans (saloon) or station wagons (estate car). Multi-purpose vehicles and sport utility vehicles based on small family cars (often called compact MPVs and compact SUVs) have similar sizes, ranging from 4,200 mm (165 in) to 4,500 mm (177 in) in the U.S., and from 4,400 mm (173 in) to 4,700 mm (185 in) in international-based models.

In Japan, any vehicle that is over 3.4 m (11.2 ft) long, 1.48 m (4.9 ft) wide, 2 m (6.6 ft) high and with an engine over 660 cc (40 cu in) but is under 4.7 m (15.4 ft) long, 1.7 m (5.6 ft) wide, 2 m (6.6 ft) high and with engines at or under 2,000 cc (120 cu in) is considered a compact vehicle. The dimension standards are absolute, meaning special consideration is not made for SUVs, CUVs, minivans, station wagons or hatchbacks.