whats the difference between saloon and hatchback cars

dantes74

excuse my stupidity but can someone explain to me the difference between saloon cars and hatchback. i've been looking at some pics but can't see any real noticable differences

Anan1

Saloons have a separate boot. Hatchbacks have an opening rear door, incorporating the rear window.

artanevilla

Same car Ford Focus:

Saloon, seperate boot (rear window doesn't open)



Hatchback, whole rear opens.

shanel23

focus on the back of the cars to see the difference between the two

Saloon - typically 4 doors and a traditional boot - opens independantly of the rear window .

Hatchback - typically 4 doors and a boot - but boot is integrated with the rear window .

mike65

Damned modern designs. Once it was obvious!

Mike.

cjt156

If you're looking on carzone or similar sites people seem to get their descriptions wrong quite a bit.
I was researching an estate for the wife last year & constantly found saloons & hatchbacks described as such.

Gregor Samsa

Also, some cars (Skoda Octavia, old model Citroen C5) look like a saloon at first glance but are actually hatchbacks. You can see the gap going around the back window where the hatchback boot opens if you look.

And most hatchbacks have a rear wiper, whereas most saloons don't.