Quote:
Originally Posted by driverman
I think the higher price of gas and higher taxes on car purchases in Europe explain the difference, going back many years. People bought smaller cars with smaller engines, less power and MT's to save lots of money. MT's were more efficient at using the limited power, minimized gas consumption and were cheaper.
I wonder if the percentage of AT's in new car purchases in Europe has increased since AT's have gotten so good. Does anyone know?
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AT is definitely more popular now, well I say more popular but it's more the case that a lot of the average family cars now offer an AT option when they didn't before. Merc's & BMW's have always been favoured over here in AT, at least for the business men, older generations and those interested in the larger offerings/comfort such as E-Class, 5-Series and upwards. Also the non-performance focussed 3-Series and the like were most common in AT with MT reserved for anyone interested in a little performance and the older ///M's generally. DCT is now really popular here, you'll find most of the sporty VAG brands are now equipped with DCT which is more popular to order than MT I believe, mostly because of the fast gear changes and launches I but I don't think AT will ever take over here, DCT is definitely nice middle ground though.
We have two driving tests, one for MT & one for AT and it's assumed that you'll be driving MT unless you specifically request otherwise. If you pass the MT test then your license allows you to drive both tranmissions but anyone who learnt/passed in AT is not permitted to drive MT on their license. It's rare that anyone will choose the AT method at all, only those petrified of motoring, those who are elderly or with a disability will do it and then get cursed by the rest of us for travelling at 20mph in all zones. I think the opinion that "only old people" buy automatic puts a lot of people off but sadly it's been true for many many years.