Is the handcart gone? ‘Even Porsches and Ferraris have automatic transmissions’

In the past, some people thought it was boring to drive a straight car, but now many people can no longer live without it. New figures from BOVAG show that the majority of new cars in the Netherlands in the first quarter were automatic. Yet some people still choose old fashioned poker.

In the new quarter, two-thirds of new cars in our country were automatic. Only 26 percent is still manual. Last year that was still 32 percent.

‘It’s been going on for a while’

“It’s a trend that’s been going on for a while,” says Lars Krijgsman of Autoweek, the forum that published the statistics.

That has to do with distribution, says Krijgsman. “More and more cars are electric and don’t have manual transmissions. You’re also seeing a shift from manual transmission cars to hybrids, which often also have automatic transmissions. The result is that the number of manual transmission cars is decreasing.”

Lovers of manual transmission

There are still people who prefer to drive a manual car, thinks Rowan Slingeland of Autobedrijf Boonstoppel Jr. “These are people who want something to do while driving, who want to enjoy changing gears,” Slingeland muses. “Also consider the sports driving you can do with a manual car. Those sports drivers want to decide for themselves what speed they drive and when they change gears.”

So little control. But sometimes a manual switch is also a better choice for practical reasons, for example for those who go on holiday in the mountains. “For example, if you’re driving down a hill, you have to brake a lot with the automatic and then the brakes get really hot,” Slingeland explains. “With a manual car you can go down, so you don’t have to do that all the time.”

Convoy drivers and price differences

And then there are the convoy drivers. “People who drive caravans often choose a manual transmission.” This is related to the towing capacity, which is often higher with manual transmission cars. “Today’s caravans are often more luxurious, so you can quickly reach 1,500kg. You can’t achieve that with every single one.”

The price difference may also play a role for some people, thinks Krijgsman from Autoweek. “Manual transmission cars are often a little cheaper than cars with automatic transmissions. People still tend to go for manual transmissions.”

Photo of dust

The fact that cars with automatic transmissions are now starting to gain popularity contradicts the dusty image that people had in the past. “At that time you had the idea that people could not drive very well. The automatic also had a real disadvantage: it moved slowly and was not economical,” says Krijgsman. “That’s not the case anymore. Nowadays even Porsches and Ferraris have automatic transmissions.”