The small car segment dominated Australian passenger car sales in 2023, recording around 36,000 deliveries more than the second-placed medium car segment.
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You might buy a small car to save on costs while still maintaining everyday usability, so what's the practicality like in these smaller, more affordable cars?
To find out, we've compared the choices listed in the small cars under $40,000 category on the VFACTS sales charts to see which offers the most boot space.
Many of these cars have multiple trim levels, body types and drivetrain options, so we've only listed the variants with the most capacity in their standard seats-up configuration.
Click on the links below to jump straight to your chosen vehicle, or scroll through the story.
Kia Cerato
The Kia Cerato is among the cheaper options on this list, and its sedan variant features a sizeable 502L boot.
Its hatch option sees boot space with the seats up decrease to 428L, but each body type is priced equally across the Cerato range.
The range starts at $27,060 before on-road costs for the base Cerato S, and is backed by Kia's seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.
Hyundai i30
The i30 is the first and only car on this list to include a full-sized alloy spare wheel in some of its variants, and its sedan options lead the way with 474L of boot space.
Like the Cerato, the i30 hatch offers a smaller 395L boot, but that expands to 1301L with the rear seats folded.
The base hatch is also $5000 cheaper than the base sedan, starting at $24,000 before on-road costs.
From $46,200 before on-roads you can purchase the performance i30 N variants, however both the sedan and hatch offer slightly smaller boots and only include a space saver spare.
Toyota Corolla
The Toyota Corolla was the best-selling car in this segment for 2023, and comes with a 470L boot in all of its sedan variants.
The Corolla is one of the only cars in this category with hybrid options available, and its range starts at $29,270 before on-road costs for the base Ascent Sport sedan.
For the Corolla hatch, it's the top-of-the-range ZR Hybrid that has the largest boot – quoted at 333L with the rear seats up.
The GR Corolla hot hatch is also available from $62,300 before on-roads, but it has a tiny 213L boot and forfeits its space saver spare for a tyre repair kit.
Skoda Scala
Skoda is the only European manufacturer on this list, and the Scala posts a reasonable 467L boot with the rear seats up.
With the seats folded that number expands to 1410L, and both 85TSI Ambition and 110TSI Signature variants have the same quoted boot space figures.
The two variants are priced at $33,950 and $42,090 before on-roads respectively, but you only get wireless Apple CarPlay in the top-spec 110TSI.
The Scala range is backed by Skoda's seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.
Mazda 3
The Mazda 3 sedan offers a 444L boot, however its hatch brother has one of the smallest boots in this segment.
At 295L the Mazda 3 hatch has more space than only two cars on this list, but every variant in the range shares the same boot space figures.
Prices for the two Mazda 3 body types are also identical, and the range starts at $30,470 before on-road costs for the base Pure.
MG 5
The MG 5 is Australia's cheapest sedan but still manages to fit 401L of boot space.
Its two variants are priced at $24,990 and $28,990 drive-away respectively, and include a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.
For the price you also get wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but it does lack some more advanced safety features.
BYD Dolphin
The sole fully-electric car on this list, the BYD Dolphin packs a 345L boot – slightly larger than the largest Corolla hatch.
At full capacity the Dolphin's boot expands to 1310L, which places it second in the segment with the rear seats folded behind only the Scala.
BYD's two-car Dolphin range starts at $38,890 before on-roads, and comes standard with a six-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.
Subaru Impreza
The smallest boot on the list belongs to the Subaru Impreza with just 291L of space in its standard layout.
The Impreza is the only car in this segment that comes standard with all-wheel drive, but even with the rear seats folded boot space is limited to 883L.
All three Impreza variants come standard with both wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, with the range kicking off at $31,490 before on-road costs.
The Impreza range also includes space saver spares and a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.
Content originally sourced from: CarExpert.com.au
