There's a world of choice in today's car market, what with more than 400 different models and many car types available. Making sense of it all can be difficult. What are the different types of cars? The first thing to know is that "cars" means "passenger vehicles of all types." For the purposes of keeping it simple, we've broken down all of those vehicle choices into nine major categories covering all of the basic types of vehicles from coupes to full-size sedans to crossover SUVs.

The easiest way to define a vehicle is by how it looks. What's the first thing you notice when a vehicle comes toward you on the street? Its shape. That's called the "body style." Is it tall and boxy? Low and sleek? How many doors does it have? Body style is the easiest way to categorize a vehicle.

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