Supermini


Supermini is a British car classification or vehicle size class for a small car, usually in a hatchback body style. It an equivalent of the European B-segment or American subcompact categories.
The term is also used by Euro NCAP for a size class including B-segment and the smaller A-segment cars.
In the UK the supermini is the top-selling vehicle type. For years the Ford Fiesta has been the leader of the class, and often most-sold car in the UK overall, competing against the Vauxhall Corsa, Volkswagen Polo, Renault Clio, Peugeot 208, and many others.

History of the term

The term developed in the 1970s as an informal categorisation, and by 1977 was used regularly by the British newspaper The Times. By the mid-1980s, it had widespread use in Britain.
The term was adopted by Euro NCAP as the smallest size class for passenger vehicles for the launch of Euro NCAP in 1997. The first round of NCAP tests was of seven supermini cars. The term is also used by the Euro NCAP system as a size class for A-segment and B-segment.

Model development

1970s and 1980s

In 1977, the Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Chevette were among Britain's top 10 best-selling cars.
Other superminis of the mid-1980s included the Austin Metro, Vauxhall Nova, Nissan Micra, Peugeot 205, Volkswagen Polo and Renault 5. The 1983 Fiat Uno was praised and won the European Car of the Year award.

1990s

The 1990 Renault Clio and 1994 Fiat Punto were significant models in the supermini category during the 1990s.. Both the Clio and Punto were recipients of the European Car of the Year Award. The Clio replaced the long-running Renault 5, although the Renault 5 remained in production until 1996. In 1993, the Nissan Micra, became the first Japanese car company to be receive the European Car of the Year award. In 1999, the Toyota Yaris received the European Car of the Year award, and was noted for its high roof which allowed for improved interior space.

2000s to present

Retro styling became popular across Europe from the late-1990s, and the first successful retro-themed supermini was the 2000 launch of the BMW-owned Mini Hatch. The Fiat 500— launched in 2007 on the fiftieth anniversary of the release of the original model— was another popular retro-themed supermini that was popular in Europe.