Why are most cars in North America automatic and most cars in Europe manual?
In: Engineering
Most cars in Europe aren’t manual anymore. Down to about only 30% now and will drop more going forward. Automatics now are more efficient due to having so many gears. Can hit all the efficiency point along the curve. Historically it’s because manuals were cheaper and Americans have more disposable income.
While there is a vocal group of drivers who prefer driving stick, automatic cars appeal more to the average consumer because they are much easier to drive.
This is what made them popular in North America.
However in the 70s and 80s manual cars were actually more fuel efficient and (depending on circumstances) were often cheaper.
While Americans started buying ever larger trucks and SUVs the European market has preferred compact cars.
Europe has traditionally had much higher gas prices than in the US, which got serious due to the gas crisis in the 70s. Combined with the nature of the narrower roads, particularly in cities, made compact manual cars far more popular.
These are the same reasons that Diesel cars became popular in Europe for a time, because diesel was cheaper than gas.
Today the fuel efficiency of automatics and CVTs is much better and Europeans have mostly switched over, but so many Europeans are used to manuals that they remain popular.
You cannot have adaptive cruise control on a manual drive. That and the other “assist” features are becoming part of a standard expectation for vehicle safety in the US.
There are a few other reasons that haven’t been mentioned:
– Automatic transmissions were invented in America, and European manufacturers didn’t catch up with American automatic transmission technology until the 80s. It wasn’t uncommon for European luxury cars to use American-sourced automatic transmissions.
– Automatics were introduced in the late 40s-early 50s at the same time overhead valve V8s were being introduced. This meant the power losses from an automatic were masked by the huge jump in power compared to pre-war flat head engines.
– They also lost some of their performance stigma when drag racing became popular in the 60s. Automatics can be built to work better for this type of racing than manual transmissions.
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Most cars in Europe manual? Maybe 20 years ago, I dont believe many cars being sold now Are manual. Most Are electric anyways.
uh… i’m in canada so we get american lifestyle osmosised out to us. american drive automatic is because they can afford it. europe is 1 step lower so they drive manual. and the country below europe drives a motorcycle/scooter, then after that is a cart pulled by a donkey lol.
*massive generalization people. keep ur pants up :V*
also i drive a 6mt jetta.
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