The word 轿车 is formed through a direct conceptual analogy. The first character, 轿 (jiào), means "sedan chair", the traditional enclosed litter carried by people. When automobiles were introduced to China, the enclosed body of a passenger car was seen as a modern, self-propelled version of that familiar enclosed carrying vehicle. Therefore, the character for "sedan chair" was combined with the character 车 (chē), meaning "vehicle" or "cart", to create the new term for "car" or "sedan automobile", essentially a "sedan-chair vehicle".