coupé

Coupé is a car body style characterized by a fixed roof, a two-door configuration, and a sportier silhouette relative to a sedan. The term comes from the French coupé, meaning “cut” or “short,” originally describing a lightweight carriage with a closed cabin for two passengers.

In automotive usage, a coupé typically seats two or four in a 2+2 arrangement and emphasizes style and performance over maximum practicality. The distinction between a coupé and a sedan is not strictly defined and varies by market and manufacturer; marketing labels sometimes use “coupe” for three- or four-door cars to convey a sporty image, while some two-door convertibles are not called coupes.

Two primary subtypes exist: the classic two-door coupé with a fixed roof; and pillarless or “hardtop” coupés that emphasize a more open cabin aesthetic. In later decades, automakers introduced four-door coupes or “sport sedans” to combine sports styling with four doors, and more recently the term has extended to crossovers and SUVs with a sloping roofline.

Notable attributes include a lower roofline and emphasis on driver-focused styling and chassis tuning, often at the expense of rear headroom and access. The coupé remains a niche within the broader market, positioned between traditional sedans and high-performance sports cars, and overlapping with grand tourers and sportback models depending on branding and market conventions.