Auto/Manual transmissions in Europe

Auto/Manual transmissions in Europe

6/11/2022 8:29:10 AM

Many people think an automatic gearbox is detrimental to the pleasure of driving in Europe. This attitude is (slowly) changing now with the introduction of faster sequential automatic gearboxes with the option of manually controlling the gears.

6/9/2022 11:06:21 PM

High gasoline prices in Europe, compared to the United States, made the small improvement in mileage worth staying with more efficient manual transmissions. Recent automatic transmissions have a much smaller penalty (if any!), so a barrier to acceptance has disappeared.

It has now become routine in the USA to see a story of a car thief who abandons the stolen vehicle because he couldn’t drive a stick shift. Google turned up three YouTube videos on the first try. Example.

6/9/2022 10:28:47 AM

Same in the whole Eastern Europe from Greece and Turkey all the way to Estonia and Finland.

The prevalence of manuals is even more pronounced in ex-socialist countries where the cars are on average much older and the drivers’ habits and expectation are shaped accordingly.

Almost everyone here can drive manual and this is taken for granted (if one can drive a car at all, which is NOT taken for granted as it is in the US).

Automatic rentals are offered, but you have to double-check if you want an automatic. These are usually bigger, more expensive and have worse fuel economy.

The last point is also somewhat important since the gas prices are not like in the US either.

6/12/2022 2:54:29 AM

Is that the case in the rest of EU, or just a Spanish thing?

Percentage of cars with automatic transmission among 2018 sales (sales, not current fleet, and EVs are regarded as having automatic transmission):

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This map was made using data from the ICCT European vehicle market statistics: Pocketbook 2019-2020.

Country-specific stats:

France via Gtranslate:

Automatic gearbox: only 8% of sales in… 2004
Buying a car with an automatic transmission? It was not yet self-evident in the 2000s. As the Caradisiac site indicates, in 2004 only 8% of new cars were fitted with an automatic gearbox. These vehicles dragged with them the image of a "grandpa’s car" recalls the Sud-Ouest newspaper. Comfortable certainly, but not inefficient…

Everything has accelerated in recent years. In 2016, cars with automatic transmission reached 25% of new car sales. In 2021, they will reach a new, highly symbolic level: according to RTL, more than half (54%) of new cars sold in France are equipped with an automatic gearbox. The latter have taken over the manual gearboxes. This is a historic first on the French car market.

UK:

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Compared to the US:

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FYI: Why Manual Transmissions Are Dying … and What’ll End Them for Good

6/8/2022 9:59:21 PM

As a European, I would say that we definitely tend to drive manual cars way more than automatic, although automatic cars are becoming more common especially in city settings.

Compared to, let’s say 10 years ago, rentals now offer more automatic cars, but still way less compared to manual cars, so they run out fast.

This is true, in my experience, in Italy and other Southern European countries and in parts of Ireland and the UK.

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

About me

Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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