Russians are increasingly choosing cars with automatic transmission

7 May 2018

The share of cars with automatic transmission increased to 55 %

Over the last five to seven years, passenger car market in Russia has changed significantly. If you look 20 bestsellers, it becomes clear that from the list of the most popular models is almost completely missing model classes C, D and E. Now the Russians are buying mostly budget models B-class and crossovers. And the choice is constantly shrinking: some brands completely withdraw from the country, others sell only the localized machine. But with all the negative aspects, the obvious trend long observed in the developed countries: motorists are increasingly choosing models with "automatic". According to the analytical Agency "AUTOSTAT", in the first quarter of 2018, the share of such vehicles accounted for 55 % of the total millet.

In this case, "machines" are not only a traditional automatic transmission with torque Converter, but also any other gearbox in which the driver is not required to manually shift gears, including "robots" and variable speed.

It is noteworthy that the "machine" account for over half of new car sales for the third consecutive year. In 2016, the demand for the first time exceeded 50 %: then 51.3% of cars bought by Russians, were equipped with automatic transmissions. In 2017 the share of transport rose to 54 %. If the current trend continues, in 2018 will set a new record.

Meanwhile, a recognized leader in the penetration of the "machine" for many decades considered to be the United States. For example, in 2016 the share of cars with a "stick", it had less than 3 %! In 1992, there were 25 %. But if we draw a parallel with Russia, it becomes obvious that in this aspect our country has fallen behind more than 25 years.

Today manual transmission is offered basically only in the budget segment. Many manufacturers don't even produce machines to which it would be possible to order a "mechanics". And if only ten years ago it was believed that the manual transmission can remain at least in the segment driversi[ or sports cars, now they come only with the "machines" or "robots".