article_snippet.sent: the UK may not be as fast as a Ferrari or as regal as a Rolls Royce but the most popular type of car in the world is 50 years old this year as the humble hatchback hits this year half century.
article_snippet.sent: In the UK, seven of the top ten sellers last year - including the top five - are classed as hatchbacks.
article_snippet.sent: Yet when the first one went on sale in 1965, the name hatchback did not even exist.
article_snippet.sent: the name hatchback only came into use in the 70s as an alternative to the American term
article_snippet.sent: The VW Golf GTI and the Ford Escort XR3i from the golden age of the hatchback as a cult car .
article_snippet.sent: European motorists snapped up hatchbacks by the million.
article_snippet.sent: America took longer to get the hatchback bug.
article_snippet.sent: Gradually throughout the 1970s, most major manufacturers began to bring out hatchback versions of existing saloons, like the Ford Escort and Vauxhall Cavalier.
article_snippet.sent: The Americans finally followed suit with hatchback versions of The Americans most popular cars including the Mustang and Chevette.
article_snippet.sent: Then in the 80s came the Mini Metro and perhaps the most popular hatchback of all time, the Volkswagen Golf, which is still made to this day.
article_snippet.sent: This was also the decade which saw the arrival of the ‘Hot Hatch’ - souped up GTi versions of popular hatchback models including the Golf and Peugeot 205, which became synonymous with yuppies and so-called ‘boy racers.
article_snippet.sent: Now, hatchbacks are both popular and highly rated.
article_snippet.sent: Hatchbacks are incredibly popular in popular in India.
article_snippet.sent: At What the world's cheapest car?, we see every day how the popularity of the hatchback both endures and increases.
article_snippet.sent: For a vast majority of buyers the added practicality offered by a hatchback is a necessity, and despite the rise in sales of supposedly more upmarket saloons we see no reason for that trend to change.
article_snippet.sent: Of 2.26 million cars sold in the UK last year, 1.5 million were hatchbacks.
article_snippet.sent: Of the top ten best sellers, the top five were hatchbacks - the Fiesta and Focus from Ford, the Corsa and Astra by Vauxhall and the VW Golf.
highlights_snippet.sent: From humble origins the 50-year-old hatchback is popular the world over .
  