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Citycar
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Acitycar(alsoknownasurbancaroramini)isasmallcar[2]
designedtobeusedprimarilyinurbanareas[3]andconurbations.
Thetermisusedalongwithothertermsforsmallcarsincluding
subcompactinNorthAmerica.TheEuroNCAPcallsallsmallcars
superminis.[4]TheEuropeanCommissionreferstoAsegment
(Utility/cityclass:entrylevelsmallpassengercar).[5]
InJapan,thekeicar(keijidsha,lit."lightautomobile")is
aspecifictypeofsmallcar.

TheFiatPanda,Europeanmarket
leaderin2011[1]

Contents
1 Internalcombustionenginecitycars
1.1 Earlyhistory
1.2 Theboom
1.3 Largercitycars
2 Seealso
3 References
4 Externallinks

Internalcombustionenginecitycars
Earlyhistory
Theoriginalconceptforthecitycarcameaboutasaresultofthegrowingmarketforentrylevelvehiclesin
the1920sand1930s.Thegreatdepressioncausedthemarketforlarge,luxuriousvehiclestocollapse.Asa
result,manufactureshadnochoicebuttobuildsmall,cheapvehiclesthatpeoplecouldafford.However,
thesevehicleswerenotspecificallybrandedasvehiclestouseincitiesorcongestedareas.Theywere
purelyforuseaspeople'scarscarsdesignedtobecheap,sellalargenumberofunits,andputpeoplewho
hadnotownedcarsonwheels.Anumberofthesesmall,cheapcarsweresoldbeforethewar,includingthe
1920sAustin7,1930sFiat500"Topolino"andthe1940sCrosley.
AftertheSecondWorldWar,anumberofmanufacturersintroducedmicrocars,whichcontainedmanyof
theelementsthatCityCarswouldcometobeknownfor,suchassmallsizeandgoodmaneuverability.
Microcarswerealsoamongthefirstcarstomarketedontheirgoodparkingabilityforexample,Iso,and
laterBMWusedtheIsetta'sfronthingeddoorasamarketingadvantage,sayingyoucouldpullintoa
parallelparkingspotnoseforwardandexitontothesidewalkusingthedoor.

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SomeoftheseearlcitycarsincludedtheBondMinicarandAC
PetiteinBritaintheIsoIsettainItalyin1953theFulda,
MesserschmittKabinenroller,andBrtshinGermanyin1954(all
twoseaterswithaFuldaandSachstwostrokeengine)the
Goggomobil,andtheDornierdesignedZndappJanus,[6]which
placedpassengersbacktoback,andfeaturedtwofronthingeddoors
similartotheIsetta's.However,theseearlymicrocarsweren'ttrue
citycarsmostweredesigned,built,andsoldcheaply,mainlyfor
poorcustomersinwarravagedEurope.Withtheexceptionofafew
examples,thesewerealsonotdesignedforspecificuseincities.
AstheEuropeaneconomyimproved,Fiatlaunchedthenew500in
1957andin1959,BMCwouldintroduceitswellknowncitycar,the
Mini.DAFjoinedItalianmotoringmagazineQuattroruoteandTurin
coachbuilderOSItoproducetheDAFOSICitiCar,whichused
Daffodilmechanicalsandinterior,andwasoneofthefirstcarswith
acontinuouslyvariabletransmission.[7]Therewereothernew
projectsfrom1969through1972.[8]In1972,Daihatsuprofferedan
electricmodel,whileToyotashowedtheTownSpider,withachoice
ofpetrolorelectricpower,[9]andGeneralMotorsdisplayedthree
twoseaters,oneelectric,onegasoline,andone(unfortunatelyfor
GM,notaprecursor)hybrid.TheGMproductswerecapableofonly
030mph(048km/h)in15secondsand3045mph(4872km/h)
maximum,notgoodenoughfornormalcitydriving,norcouldthey
meetthesafetyregulationswhichwouldbeintroducedin1974.[10]

AGermanaddepictingtheBMW
Isetta'sfronthingeddoor.

Fiat500

Whilemanyofthesecarscanbeconsideredcitycarstoday,these
carshavebeenreplacedbylargercarswitheachpassinggeneration.
ExceptionsarethesmallerFiats,especiallythe1957Fiat500and126.Theywereintheregionof3.0
metres(9ft10in)inlength,buthadseatingforfourpeople,puttingthemoutsidethemicrocarcategory.In
the1970stheCitronLNAandrelatedthreedoorPeugeot104offeredcompactcitysizedcarsofaround
3.3m,andtheFiatPandafollowedin1980.
InJapan,regulationsdefiningkeicarswereestablishedon8July1949.Productionofcompliantvehicles
startedaround19551958byDaihatsu,Mitsubishi,Subaru,andSuzuki.

Theboom
Inthelate1980s,superminishadphysicallygrownsomuchthatmanybuyerswantedevensmallerfour
seatcars.InJapan,buyershadawideselectiontochoosefrominpassengercars,microvanandkeitrucks,
suchastheHondaTodayandtheHondaActy,SubaruSambarandSubaruVivio,DaihatsuAtraiand
DaihatsuMira,MitsubishiMinicaandMitsubishiMinicab,andtheSuzukiFronteandSuzukiWagonR.In
Europeanumberofsmallcarswerelaunched,includingtheLanciaY10(3,390millimetres(11ft1in)
long)in1985andtheRenaultTwingoin1993,whichfeaturedaMPVlikedesignandinteriorroom,
despiteitssizeandheight3,430millimetres(11ft3in)longand1,420millimetres(4ft8in)tall.
Combinedwithanoriginalexteriorandinteriordesign,itquicklybecameabestseller,althoughitwasnot
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officiallyimportedtorighthanddrivemarketsincludingtheUnited
Kingdom.However,theFiatCinquecento,launchedtowardstheend
of1991,wasmadeforrighthanddrivemarkets,andwashugely
popular.
In1996,theFordKawaspresentedwithitsradicalNewEdge
design.Itseggshapedbodydidnotleavemuchroomintherear
seats,butmanycustomersdidnotneedthemandpreferredtheKa
overmoreconservativedesigns.Itwasespeciallypopularwith
Britishbuyers.
2008SmartFortwoconvertible

Duringthesecondhalfofthe1990s,SouthKoreanbrandsDaewoo
andHyundaiintroducedtheircitycarentries,bothfortheAsianand
Europeanmarkets.TheHyundaiAtos,launchedin1997,was3,500millimetres(11ft6in)longand1,600
millimetres(5ft3in)high,whichwasmuchtallerthananyEuropeanmodels(usuallyunder1,450
millimetres(4ft9in))andprovidedconsiderableinteriorspace.Itsboxyshapeprovokedmixedreactions.
TheDaewooMatizfollowedin1998withaGiorgettoGiugiarodesignandamoderateheight(1,500
millimetres(4ft11in)).TheseKoreancitycarsweremuchcheaperthanmostoftheEuropeanmodels,
especiallytheOpel/VauxhallAgila(2000),abadgeengineeredSuzukiWagonR,VolkswagenLupo(1999)
andthetwoseaterSmartFortwo(1998).Bytheyear2000,citycarshadincreasedmassivelyinpopularity
withbuyersinthespaceofadecade.

Largercitycars
Assmallfamilycarsandsuperminisgrewinthe1990stothe2000s,
sodidcitycars.Aftersomenewsuperminisgrewtobeover3,900
millimetres(12ft10in)long(liketheFordFiesta,OpelCorsa,the
SEATIbizaandtheVolkswagenPolo),someautomakersdeveloped
citycarmodelsmorethan3,650millimetres(12ft0in)long.The
firstofthesemodelswastheNissanMicra(2002),whichis3,720
millimetres(12ft2in)longandsmallerthanmanysuperminisof
thelate1990s.OthercarsaretheCitronC2,SuzukiSwift,Smart
Forfour,TataIndica,andPeugeot1007(thelastonewhichcanalso
belabelledasaminiMPV).FiatlaunchedtheirnewFiat500[13]in
2007,somewhatbiggerthanthefirst500,butstillonly3,546
millimetres(11ft8in)long.

TataNano,theworld'scheapest
car. [11]Indiaistheworld'snumber

Inaddition,sincethe2000stherehasbeenareturnofsmallercity
oneproducerofbasiccars. [12]
carswithlengthswellunder3,200mmsuchastheTataNanoand
ToyotaiQ.Slightlylarger,butstillaround3,300mmcitycars
releasedinthe2010sincludetheelectricBollorBluecarandMitsubishiiMiEV,andtraditionallypowered
CitronC1andrelatedToyotaAygo.[14]

Seealso

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SimpCit,electriccitycar.

Carclassification
Economycar
Keicar
Microcar
MITCar(using"CityCar"asabrandname)
Neighborhoodelectricvehicle(NEV)

Neighborhoodelectricvehicle(NEV)
Superminicar
Vehiclesizeclass

References
1."EuropeFullYear2011:Top318Allmodels
rankingnowavailable!".AutoWeek.3March
2012.Retrieved24April2013.
2.Patton,Phil(March28,2005)."LittleCarsinthe
BigApple:StillOnlyaGoodIdea".TheNewYork
Times.ArchivedfromtheoriginalonMarch2,
2010.RetrievedMarch2,2010."InEurope,the
"citycar"isawellunderstoodconcept..."
3.Ruppert,James(October10,1998)."Motoring:
TheCitycartobeseenin".TheIndependent
(London).ArchivedfromtheoriginalonMarch1,
2010.RetrievedMarch1,2010."(Citycars)are
meanttobecheap,small,easytoparkandyet
practical,withgoodmannersontheopenroad."
4."Superminis".Euroncap.Retrieved30December
2012.
5."Regulation(EEC)No4064/89MergerProcedure
(page8)"(PDF).OfficeforOfficialPublicationsof
theEuropeanCommunitiesL2985Luxembourg.
Retrieved24April2013.
6.Casucci,Piero."CityCars:TheAnswertothe

6.Casucci,Piero."CityCars:TheAnswertothe
World'sTrafficProblems?",inNorthey,Tom,ed.
WorldofAutomobiles(London:Orbis,1974),Vol.
4,p.383.
7.Casucci,p.384.
8.Casucci,pp.38485.
9.Casucci,p.385.
10.Casucci,p.386.
11.TheNano,world'scheapestcar,tohitIndian
roads,Reuters,23March2009,retrieved27August
2009
12.Indiabecomesbiggestplayerinlittlestcars,
MSNBC,AssociatedPress,12December2009,
retrieved7April2011
13."BESTCITYCAR:Fiat500".AutoExpress.1
September2008.Retrieved8January2015.
14."Bestcitycars".CarBuyer.25November2014.
Retrieved8January2015.

Externallinks
FifthGeartelevisionprogrammereviewsthecitycarsegment
WikimediaCommonshas
(http://fwd.five.tv/cars/citycar)
mediarelatedtocitycars.
AutoExpressmagazinechoosesthebestcitycar
(http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/carreviews/grouptests/227241/best_city_car.html)
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=City_car&oldid=709773317"
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