A Hatchback is a car body style incorporating a shared passenger and cargo volume, with rearmost accessibility via a rear third or fifth door, typically a top-hinged liftgate—and features such as fold-down rear seats to enable flexibility within the shared passenger/cargo volume. As a two-box design, the body style typically includes an A, B & C-pillar, and may include a D pillar. The American Heritage Dictionary defines a hatchback as "having a sloping back with a hinged rear door that opens upward."

Hatchbacks and liftbacks share commonalities and distinctions with station wagons. The body style appeared as early as the 1930s, but the first known use of the word 'hatchback' was in 1970. This automobile design has experienced worldwide marketing.

Hatchbacks may be described as three-door (two entry doors and the hatch) or five-door (four entry doors and the hatch) cars—and may range in size from city cars and superminis to small family cars, mid-size cars (e.g., the Toyota Camry hatchback (1982–1986). When a model range includes multiple configurations, as with the 2001–2007 Ford Focus which offered sedan (ZX4), wagon (ZXW) and three and five-door hatchback (ZX3 and ZX5) models, the models typically share a platform, drivetrain and bodywork forward of the A-pillar. Hatchbacks may have a removable rigid parcel shelf, liftable with the tailgate, or flexible roll-up tonneau cover to cover the cargo space behind the rear seats.