A mid-size car, Honda Accord

A mid-size car, occasionally referred to as an intermediate, is the North American term for an automobile with a size between that of a compact and a full-size car. A compact (North America small family (European or c-segment car is a classification of cars which are larger than a supermini A full-size car is a Marketing term used in North America for an Automobile larger than a Mid-size car. In Europe, cars of a similar size are often referred to as large family cars or executive cars, depending on whether they are luxury cars. A large family car is a European classification of cars which are larger than a Small family car and smaller than an Executive car Executive car is a British term that refers to a car's size and is used to describe an Automobile larger than a Large family car. Luxury vehicle is a marketing term for a vehicle that provides luxury &mdash that which is beyond strict necessity &mdash in exchange for increased cost to the buyer As many of them are sedans, they are commonly called saloon cars within the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located

The United States

The car that defined this size in the United States was the Rambler Six that was introduced in 1956, although it was called "compact" at that time. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Rambler Six was an intermediate sized automobile that was built and sold by American Motors Corporation (AMC ^[1] The mid-size class then grew out of the compacts of the early-1960s. For example, the Ford Fairlane was referred to at its introduction in 1962 as a compact intermediate because it was barely bigger than its close relative, the Falcon. The Ford Falcon was an Automobile produced by Ford Motor Company from 1960 through 1970 General Motors' first entries in the class, such as the Oldsmobile F-85, Pontiac Tempest, and Buick Special were not mechanically related to the compact Chevrolet Corvair, but were similar in size. The Oldsmobile Cutlass was an Automobile made by the Oldsmobile division of General Motors. The Pontiac Tempest was an entry-level compact Automobile produced by the Pontiac Motor Division of General Motors, introduced in September 1960 The Buick Special was an Automobile produced by the Buick Motor Division of General Motors, Flint Michigan ( USA) The Chevrolet Corvair was an Automobile produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors from 1959 to 1969 for the 1960&ndash1969 Model At that time vehicle classes were defined more by their wheelbase than interior passenger space and cargo capacity. In both road and rail Vehicles the wheelbase is the distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels The class began to grow rapidly, and for the next ten years each expansion in size in the full-size field was followed by a proportionate growth in the mid-size models. By the mid-1960s, they were as big as the full-size cars of the mid-1950s. By the mid-1970s, they were nearly as big as the full-size cars of the mid-1960s. During the 1970s, the intermediate class was generally defined as vehicles with wheelbases between 112 inches (2,845 mm) and 118 inches (2,997 mm).

A turning point occurred in the late 1970s, when rising fuel costs and government fuel economy regulations caused all car classes to shrink, and in many cases to blur. New "official" size designations in the U. S. were introduced by the EPA, which defined market segments by passenger and cargo space. ^[2] Formerly mid-sized cars, like the AMC Matador sedan that had a combined passenger and cargo volume of 130 cubic feet (3. 1978 AMC Matador leftsidejpg|thumb|250px|1978 AMC Matador sedan]] The AMC Matador is an intermediate car that was built and sold by American Motors Corporation 68 m³), were now considered "full-size". ^[3] The situation was complicated when General Motors began to downsize its models about two years before everybody else. In 1978, the Chevrolet Malibu nameplate had been redesigned on a 108-inch (2,743 mm) wheelbase, while the Ford Fairmont had been designed to replace the Ford Granada with a Volvo-like size at 105 inches (2,667 mm). The Chevrolet Malibu (named after Malibu California) is a Mid-size car produced in the United States by General Motors. See Ford Fairmont (Australia for the Australian built vehicle of the same name Both competed with the Chrysler standard and extended K-cars, often classified as compact, though mid-size by EPA standards Mid-size platforms such as the Plymouth Satellite would be rebranded as full-size, rebodied, or dropped in the face of the downsized Chevrolet Caprice. The Plymouth Satellite was an Automobile introduced in 1965 as the top model in Plymouth's mid-size Belvedere line The Chevrolet Caprice and Caprice Classic were full-sized Automobiles produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors in the United Some were subsequently replaced by what used to be large compacts, like the Plymouth Gran Fury in police applications. 1975-1977 In 1975 the mid-size Plymouth Satellite was restyled and renamed Plymouth Fury. The Fairmont would be badged with the full-size Ford LTD moniker before being replaced by the class-defining Ford Taurus. The Ford Taurus is an Automobile manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States. Similarly, import models such as the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry that had been classified by the EPA as compact in 1985 grew to the mid-size class by the 1990s. The Honda Accord is series of midrange Automobile manufactured by Honda since 1976 and sold in most automotive markets throughout the world The Toyota Camry is a Mid-size car, formerly a Compact car manufactured by Toyota since 1980

Mid-size vehicles today usually have wheelbases between 105 inches (2,667 mm) and 110 inches (2,794 mm). Another definition specifies between 110 cubic feet (3. 11 m³) and 119 cubic feet (3. 37 m³) of interior volume. This is currently the most popular size car sold in the United States.

Europe, Australia and New Zealand

The full-sized Opel Omega B was marketed in the United States as the mid-sized Cadillac Catera, despite their identical dimensions. There was also an Oldsmobile Omega, an unrelated vehicle that was produced during the 1970s and 1980s The Opel Omega was an Executive car The Cadillac Catera was a Mid-sized automobile that was largely a rebadged version of the Opel Omega MV6 made in Rüsselsheim

Cars in Europe's equivalent category to North America's mid-size are generally known as large family cars or executive cars (small family cars are North American compacts), whereas Australia and New Zealand also use the mid-size label. A compact (North America small family (European or c-segment car is a classification of cars which are larger than a supermini European and Australasian mid-size/family cars are usually a little smaller than the North American norm, even from the same manufacturer. For comparison, the 1998 Ford Taurus weighed around 1500 kg, had a 2757 mm wheelbase, and was powered by a 3. 0 L V6 engine, whereas a 1998 Ford Mondeo weighed around 1300 kg, had a 2704 mm wheelbase, and was often powered by a 2. The Ford Mondeo is a Large family car sold by the Ford Motor Company in various markets throughout the world 0 L I4.

European and Australasian mid-size/large family cars are also usually offered in sedan and hatchback form, as opposed to the sole sedan form found in the models populating the North American category. European mid-size cars tend to be front-wheel drive with a focus on ride comfort, although the twisting nature of European roads demands a high level of handling agility which would not normally be required in the USA.

As elsewhere, upsizing has blurred the distinction between types, with models that would be and are compacts in North America, such as the Ford Focus and Opel Astra, approaching the mid-size category by growing larger and fitting more powerful engines with every iteration. The Ford Focus is a Compact car sold in the North American market See also Vauxhall Astra and Holden Astra for the usage of the nameplate by other General Motors subsidiaries However, it is usually thought the categories to grow along the years rather than the cars switching categories.

Sometimes the definitions of car categories are manipulated to serve marketing ends. In Australia, Toyota had categorized the V6 equipped Camry as a large car and the 4-cylinder Camry as a medium or mid-size car in order to dominate more segments, despite the physical size of the cars being identical. Similarly, the Opel/Vauxhall Omega/Cadillac Catera, which had dimensions right on the border between the North American categorizations of full-size and mid-size, was marketed as a luxury full-size car in Europe and a mid-size car in North America. There was also an Oldsmobile Omega, an unrelated vehicle that was produced during the 1970s and 1980s The Opel Omega was an Executive car

Japan

In Japan, the term mid-size car probably does not have the intermediate sense that it does in other markets. Due to space restrictions the range of cars available in this market starts from a much smaller size. As such, the models that Japan exports to other markets to compete in mid-size market segments such as the Mazda 6 and Subaru Legacy occupy a more exclusive segment in the Japanese marketplace. The Mazda Atenza or Mazda 6 is a Mid-size car produced by the Japanese car manufacturer Mazda since 2002 The Subaru Legacy is a Mid-size car introduced by the Japanese manufacturer Subaru in February 1989 as a larger companion to the company's

An interesting quirk of Japanese automotive tax codes is that width is one of factors determining which category a car is taxed under. Therefore even mid-sized cars destined for export markets from Japan had widths of less than 1700 mm, as manufacturers had to look to domestic consumption as well as export. However, as export markets have become progressively more significant for Japanese car manufacturers, more models have been produced that break this 1700 mm wide limit (around 67 inches).

See also

• List of current mid-size cars
• Car classification
• Vehicle size class
• Large family car
• Executive car

References

External links

• EPA list of 1985 midsize cars
• EPA list of 1988 midsize cars
• EPA list of 1990 midsize cars
• EPA list of 1994 midsize cars
• EPA list of 1998 midsize cars
• EPA list of 2000 midsize cars
• EPA list of 2008 midsize cars