Car Body Type, Transmission & Drive Codes Explained

Australian vehicle data uses short codes for body type, transmission, drive, fuel and vehicle type. They are compact and consistent, but not always obvious - why is a mid-size SUV a "wagon", what is the difference between a cab chassis and a ute, and what does a transmission code of O mean? This guide explains every code used in the CarsData dataset, along with the Australian usage behind them, so you can filter, group and display vehicles correctly.

Body types

The Body column describes the shape of the vehicle. Some codes are abbreviated with a slash, a convention carried over from older systems with short field lengths.

Code	Meaning	Notes
`SEDAN`	Sedan	Separate boot with its own lid; the rear window does not lift with it.
`WAGON`	Wagon	Two-box shape with a rear door or tailgate. Includes most SUVs as well as traditional station wagons - see below.
`H/BAC`	Hatchback	Rear door that includes the window, usually on a shorter body.
`L/BAC`	Liftback	Sedan-like or fastback profile with a large rear hatch that lifts with the window.
`COUPE`	Coupe	Fixed roof, usually two doors with a sporty profile.
`CONVT`	Convertible	Folding or removable roof.
`CABRO`	Cabriolet	Another name for a convertible; the code generally follows the name the manufacturer used.
`RDSTR`	Roadster	Open two-seat sports car.
`H/TOP`	Hardtop	Fixed or removable hard roof, used for some off-roaders and older coupes.
`S/TOP`	Soft top	Fabric roof, typically on off-roaders.
`UTE`	Utility	Vehicle with an open load area behind the cab - see below.
`P/UP`	Pick-up	Open load bed behind the cab - see below.
`C/CHA`	Cab chassis	Cab with bare chassis rails behind it, ready for a tray or body.
`TRAY`	Tray	Supplied with a flat tray fitted.
`VAN`	Van	Van body, such as a panel van.
`TRUCK`	Truck	Heavier commercial vehicles.
`BUS`	Bus	Buses and minibuses.
`PMOVER`	Prime mover	Truck designed to tow a semi-trailer.

Wagon vs SUV

There is no separate "SUV" body code. In Australian vehicle classification, most SUVs - from small crossovers to large four-wheel drives - are recorded as WAGON, because body type describes the shape of the vehicle (two boxes with a rear door) rather than how it is marketed. The same code also covers traditional station wagons such as the long-roof versions of family sedans.

If you need to separate SUVs from station wagons, body type alone won't do it. Practical options are:

combine WAGON with Drive (AWD or 4WD) - useful, but remember many SUVs are front-wheel drive;
maintain your own small lookup of models you classify as SUVs, keyed by make and model;
check the occasional crossover recorded as H/BAC if you want a complete list.

Ute vs pick-up vs cab chassis

In everyday Australian English, "ute" covers nearly any vehicle with an open load area behind the cab - from the classic car-based utes built locally for decades to today's one-tonne four-wheel drives. In vehicle data the distinction is finer:

Ute and pick-up (UTE, P/UP) - supplied with a load bed or tub fitted. Which of the two codes a vehicle gets largely reflects how it was described when sold, rather than a hard difference in shape.
Cab chassis (C/CHA) - supplied without a tub. Behind the cab are bare chassis rails, and the buyer fits a flat tray, service body, tipper or canopy. Popular with tradies and farmers, and often a separate variant with its own NVIC.
Tray (TRAY) - supplied with a tray already fitted.

So if you are building a "utes" filter for a consumer website, include UTE, P/UP, C/CHA and TRAY. The cab style - single, extra or dual cab - is not part of the body code; the Variant text and the Doors column (two for most single cabs, four for dual cabs) are the best guides.

Transmission codes

Code	Meaning	Notes
`A`	Automatic	Conventional automatic.
`M`	Manual	Clutch pedal and gear lever.
`O`	Continuously variable (CVT)	No fixed gear ratios - the ratio changes smoothly.
`S`	Automated dual-clutch / sports automatic	Includes dual-clutch and automated manual gearboxes.
`T`	Automatic with manual mode	Automatic that also lets the driver select gears.

For a consumer-facing filter, most people only want "automatic" or "manual". Group A, O, S and T together as automatic and leave M as manual - none of the four automatic types has a clutch pedal. Combine the code with Gears to show labels like "6-speed automatic".

Drive codes

Code	Meaning
`FWD`	Front-wheel drive
`RWD`	Rear-wheel drive
`AWD`	All-wheel drive - drive to all four wheels, typically for on-road grip
`4WD`	Four-wheel drive - often with off-road features such as low range
`4X4`	Four-wheel drive, written in wheel notation (four wheel positions, four driven)
`4X2`	Two-wheel drive version of a vehicle that is also sold as a 4x4 - common for utes
`2WD`	Two-wheel drive, without specifying front or rear
`6X4`	Three axles (six wheel positions), two of them driven
`6X2`	Three axles, one driven
`6X6`	Three axles, all driven
`8X4`	Four axles, two driven

In the "wheels x driven" notation, the first number counts wheel positions (each end of each axle), not tyres - dual rear wheels still count as one position. The 6X4, 6X2, 6X6 and 8X4 codes mostly appear on trucks and prime movers.

The line between AWD, 4WD and 4X4 is a matter of description rather than a strict engineering rule. For a simple "drive" filter, group AWD, 4WD, 4X4 and the multi-axle codes as all or four-wheel drive, and FWD, RWD, 4X2 and 2WD as two-wheel drive.

Fuel

Value	Meaning
`PETROL`	Petrol engine
`DIESEL`	Diesel engine
`LPG`	Liquefied petroleum gas
(blank)	No fuel recorded - this is the case for most battery-electric vehicles

To find battery-electric vehicles, look for a blank Fuel together with a blank or zero EngineCC, and confirm with the Variant text, which often names the battery or motor. Hybrids have a combustion engine, so check the variant name too if you need to separate them from conventional petrol or diesel versions. The data dictionary lists every value that appears in the current release.

Vehicle type

Code	Meaning
`PVG`	Passenger vehicle
`CVG`	Light commercial vehicle - utes, vans and cab chassis
`OCG`	Older passenger vehicle
`OLC`	Older light commercial vehicle
`HCV`	Heavy commercial vehicle - trucks, prime movers and buses
`IMP`	Imported vehicle - grey or parallel imports brought in outside the manufacturer's local range

VehicleType is handy for scoping. A car insurance form might show only PVG and CVG, while a classic-car site would include OCG and OLC. Imported vehicles (IMP) can differ in specification from the locally delivered versions of the same model, so treat their details with a little extra care.

Putting the codes to work

A few practical suggestions when using these codes in an application:

Store the code, display a label. Keep the raw code in your database and map it to friendly text in your interface, so a change of wording never requires a data migration.
Group for filters, keep detail for records. Customers want "Automatic" and "4WD"; your records should keep T and 4X4.
Build labels from several columns. "Wagon, 8-speed automatic, AWD, 2.5L petrol" is far clearer than a variant name alone.

SELECT Body, COUNT(*) AS Variants
FROM dbo.CarsData_Vehicles
WHERE Year = 2025
GROUP BY Body
ORDER BY Variants DESC;

See the codes in the data

Download the free sample to see these codes alongside real rows, read the full data dictionary, browse every make, or get the full dataset of 133,279 rows for $149 once.

Related guides: what an NVIC code is and building a year, make, model dropdown using these columns.

Australian car body types, transmission and drive codes explained