Hatch

Much like the Beach Boys “Coop”, a hatch – shortened from the more descriptive hatchback – is nothing to do with birds.

A hatch is also referred to as being a five-door car and describes a vehicle that looks like a sedan from front on, but has a cut-off, shapely rear end – like the Mercedes-Benz A-Class – which features a large rear door, or hatch, rather than just a boot.

The goal is to provide more rear storage space, even in smaller-sized vehicles, although there are bigger hatches, such as the Mercedes-Benz B-Class, as well.

Estate

Yes, just saying you’ve got one makes you sound like landed gentry, but in Benz speak this is what we used to call a station wagon, which is basically a longer, bigger version of a hatch – or a stretched sedan, if you prefer – offering a large tailgate/fifth door at the rear, and maximum boot space. The C-Class Estate is just about the most attractive wagon money can buy, while the more adventurous, dirt-road adventurers love the E-Class All-Terrain variant.

SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicles)

Many moons ago, these giant family haulers were only driven by people who looked permanently sunburnt and yearned for the outback, but today they make up almost half of all new-car sales in Australia.

Everybody wants the high-riding seating position and excellent vision that an SUV delivers, and that’s why they now come in so many shapes and sizes, from the sweet little GLA city SUV to the enormous and adventurous G-Class.

Utes

Another area of growth in the car market over the past decade or so has been utes, or what we used to call pick-up trucks, until we joined the Americans in falling head over giant wheels in love with them.

A ute is basically a workhorse that’s somehow become a family truck. It can have either two doors or four, two seats or five, but its defining feature is the huge rear tray, traditionally used for a tradies’ tools but now just as likely to carry kids’ bikes, toys or surfboards. The Mercedes-Benz X-Class is the ute for people who want both style and practicality.

Cabriolets and Roadsters

Now, just for one final touch of confusion, which we can quickly dispel, Cabriolet and Roadster are both words that mean “convertible”, as in a car with a roof – either soft fabric or solid metal – that can be dropped/converted to expose the cabin to the glorious elements (and closed again if it rains).

The difference between the racy-looking SL Roadster, or the even fiercer Mercedes-AMG GT Roadster, and the C-Class, E-Class and S-Class cabriolets is that the latter have rear seats, while a roadster is made only for two.

By Stephen Corby