A city car is a small, moderately powered automobile intended for use in urban areas. It has four seats, they are typically between 3.4 m and 3.6 m 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. The city car's greater speed and occupant protection allow relatively safe operation in mixed traffic environments and in all weather conditions. 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from the late 1940's. While many cars of the 1960s are small enough to be considered city cars today, these cars have been replaced by larger cars with each passing generation.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 meters in length, but had seating for four people, putting them outside the micro car category. wiki city car 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 automakers designed models above 3650 mm long.

Luxury SUV

A luxury SUV is a North American term for sport utility vehicles which have features that resemble other luxury vehicles. They are relatively expensive and have a higher emphasis and premium on comfort, quality, style and engineering, than their mainstream counterparts. Even though luxury SUVs do not necessarily feature more comfort or a higher quality than sedans, they tend to be more expensive than luxury sedans. The top-of-the-line SUVs of American and Japanese luxury car makers out price their flagship sedans. The flagship SUV Cadillac Escalade is a luxury SUV. In European automakers, where the flagship sedans are still priced above the top-of-the-line SUV. Mid-level luxury SUVs feature base MSRP's ranging approximately between $40K to $80K. Vehicles in this category include: Audi Q7, Porsche Cayenne S, Acura MDX, Cadillac Escalade, Volkswagen Touareg, Mercedes-Benz M-Class, Mercedes-Benz GL-Class, Volvo XC90, Saab 9-7X, Lincoln Navigator, Land Rover LR3, Land Rover Range Rover Sport, Lexus GX, Lexus RX 400h, BMW X5, Infiniti QX56, Toyota Land Cruiser, Toyota Prado and Infiniti FX. High-end luxury SUVs. Vehicles in this category include: Mercedes-Benz G-Class, Lexus LX, Porsche Cayenne Turbo, and Land Rover Range Rover.