The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (February 2021) |
A sedan or saloon (British English)[1][2] is a passenger car in a three-box configuration with separate compartments for an engine, passengers, and cargo.[3] The first recorded use of sedan in reference to an automobile body occurred in 1912.[4] The name derives from the 17th-century litter known as a sedan chair, a one-person enclosed box with windows and carried by porters. Variations of the sedan style include the close-coupled sedan, club sedan, convertible sedan, fastback sedan, hardtop sedan, notchback sedan, and sedanet.
The principal volumes of the traditional sedan can be split into separate compartments or boxes: the hood/bonnet is the first box; the passenger compartment the second, and the trunk/boot the third - i.e. it's a 'three-box' car.