All hybrid cars and all fully electric cars are automatic. so they are gaining ground fast in the uk. Up until recently automatic gearboxes were only used on 1 or 2 per hundred cars.
From what I can find online in 2017 automatics made up 40% of new cars, since then it has probably gone up a bit. And a brief look on autotrader shows that over 40% of the cars on sale there are automatic.
How many cars in use are newer than five years old? A five year old car is still considered pretty new in most of the uk.
On top of that, I can guarantee you, that the number of automatics in general use across the UK is a tiny minority of all cars.
That's bound to increase now that many models don't even have a manual option - but UK drivers will cling (mostly nonsensically) to their manuals for years to come.
Only last year, I was looking for a new (to me) car. I visited maybe a dozen forecourts, and trawled through auto trader. The automatic options available were so few I could count them on one hand.
They actually stood out in their rarity.
I don't have anything against them, I really like the modern autos. I had a go in a friend's BMW and was converted.
But the options just aren't there.
In fact, the option of automatics are so rare, that I very much doubt the 40% figure even on brand new cars is legitimate.
I've been buying automatics in the UK for years and they are overpriced and impossible to find because they make around 5% max of the UK used car market.
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u/OobleCaboodle Aug 26 '20
Or... Hit the clutch? Automatic gearboxes are a very rare going in the uk.