Segment (A–F)
The European size ladder for cars, from A (mini cars) to F (luxury cars), used to define which cars are fair to compare.
The segment ladder is Europe's shorthand for car size and position in the market. In a 1998 merger decision, the European Commission described its narrowest segmentation as A mini cars, B small cars, C medium cars, D large cars, E executive cars, and F luxury cars, with S (sport coupés), M (multi-purpose cars), and J (sport utility cars) as separate codes. Other schemes group SUVs differently, so read the letters as a rough guide.
The Commission also noted that boundaries between segments are blurred by price, image, and equipment as well as size, yet it described the segmentation as generally used by the industry. That is why it endures: rivals are cars in the same segment, and a price or cargo figure only impresses relative to its class.
CarPairly assigns every model a size segment from A to F and uses it to keep statistics honest: when a car page says cargo space sits below the segment median, that grouping defines the peer set. Body type, including SUV, is recorded separately, because segment is about size and positioning, not shape.
Differs by market
The A–F ladder is European convention. In the US, EPA classes passenger cars by interior volume as minicompact, subcompact, compact, midsize, and large, which align only roughly with the letters. CarPairly uses the A–F scheme site-wide for consistency.