Skip advert
Advertisement

‘It won’t be long before automatics outnumber manual car sales’

With over a million automatic gearbox cars sold in the UK last year, Steve Fowler assesses the case for the auto box

While many purists will cry foul when new performance models are launched with a faster, more efficient auto box in place of a manual shift, most car buyers don’t seem to mind at all.

Crawling over the latest data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, we discovered that back in 2012, 506,720 cars were registered with automatic gearboxes (be that standard autos, CVTs or semi-automatics). Five years on and the stats for autos in 2017 have more than doubled to 1,016,516.

Advertisement - Article continues below

Manual vs automatic gearboxes - which should you choose?

Sure, over that time, registrations rose, too. But at that rate, it won’t be too long before the sales of autos overtake those of manual cars. Especially as we see a rapid increase in the popularity of hybrid and fully electric cars – all of which are automatics.

All that has prompted a debate in the Fowler household that, currently, has two 17-year old lads learning to drive. They’re learning in a manual, of course, and just about coming to terms with clutch control. And as I remember myself, it’s probably the most difficult part of learning, before you get on to the more important aspects of becoming a driver.

So should they have just accepted that, eventually, most people will just be driving automatics and aimed at an auto-only test pass? Would they have less fun if they wanted to attend a track day? Well, I wouldn’t say the McLaren 570GT I ran last year with a seven-speed dual-clutch auto was boring...

One of my lads’ friends, having just passed his test, has gone straight into a cheap, small automatic car. His reasoning was that he’ll have a black box in his car monitoring his driving, so if he didn’t have to worry about changing gear and balancing the clutch, he could just concentrate on being a better driver. Smart guy. The latest autos are efficient, relaxing and can still make driving fun. And that’s why I’m a big fan.

Now read about the best automatic cars on sale in 2018…

Skip advert
Advertisement
Editor-in-chief

Steve Fowler has been editor-in-chief of Auto Express since 2011 and is responsible for all editorial content across the website and magazine. He has previously edited What Car?, Autocar and What Hi-Fi? and has been writing about cars for the best part of 30 years. 

Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

Road tax set to rise in April: here’s how much more you’ll pay
Road tax documentation
News

Road tax set to rise in April: here’s how much more you’ll pay

Drivers with newer cars will now pay £10 more per year, although the biggest gas guzzlers fare even worse
28 Mar 2024
Posh new trim level for Dacia Sandero while the Sandero Stepway gets more power
Dacia Sandero - front
News

Posh new trim level for Dacia Sandero while the Sandero Stepway gets more power

Both the Sandero and Sandero Stepway ranges have been tweaked, gaining more safety features to meet the latest regulations
26 Mar 2024
Car Deal of the Day: updated Skoda Enyaq at 0% APR and a free home wallbox charger thrown in
Skoda Enyaq iV - front cornering
News

Car Deal of the Day: updated Skoda Enyaq at 0% APR and a free home wallbox charger thrown in

Skoda’s family-friendly EV with 348-mile range is our Car Deal of the Day for 26 March
26 Mar 2024