On 2014-10-26 11:07:58 +0000, Arthur Conan Doyle said:

In the UK, it seems to be quite different and I'm not sure why.

Europe in general, not just the UK. I would think a few reasons...
- Old style fluid-coupling slushboxes were less fuel efficient; fuel
has always been expensive in the UK and Europe, while in the US it is
fairly cheap.
- Old style boxes were considered unreliable (and probably were).
- Old style boxes were sometimes a little clunky and sapped power, an
issue when for fuel consumption reasons we don't, unlike the US, put 4+
litre V8s in everything.

None of these are really true now - modern boxes are efficient and
reliable - and it's easier to build an automatic hybrid than a manual
one (though there are a few manual parallel hybrids on the market). So
I think we will increasingly see a move to automatics. There is the
"with a manual you get better control" thing, but most drivers drive
not for the experience but for getting from A to B, so that isn't a
massive concern to them.

Neil
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Neil Williams
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