Topic: % of automatics cars sold

[Arctic_White]

When I was in Edmonton a while back, pretty much every other car was manual.

 

[HeliDriver]

How many Albertans drive cars?  Do not most drive big honkin' pickup trucks and SUV's?       

The 25% seemed high to me as well but it is for passenger cars and as a nation we like our small cars (compared to the US) so I can see the number making sense.  It  excludes SUV's, P/U's and mini vans that have a higher % of AT's.

That's true, but there isn't really much info given in the original article from TC: the statistics are only broken down into "passenger cars" and "light trucks".

I would think that all mini-vans and most modern SUVs (although maybe not quite as many back in 2002) would fall into the "passenger car" category. To me, "light trucks" are pick-ups, full-size vans and maybe full-size, body-on-frame SUVs.

Then again, I think I read somewhere that the PT Cruiser is, according to the U.S. gov't. anyway, a "light truck". Can't remember why - maybe it had something to do with being able to remove all the seats or some such thing. 

[tpl]

SiRC  the reason that some "cars" are "trucks" is to dodge some of the emissions/safety standards.   IMHO if it quacks like a duck... but then I don't make the rules.

[Trainman]

SiRC  the reason that some "cars" are "trucks" is to dodge some of the emissions/safety standards.   IMHO if it quacks like a duck... but then I don't make the rules.

This is from the Transport Canada 1998 annual report on the state of transportation in Canada   (link: http://www.tc.gc.ca/pol/en/Report/anre1998/TC9815DE.HTM    )

...It seems likely that pickup trucks and vans designed to carry freight are usually classified as "trucks", but it is also the case that vehicle manufacturers designate other passenger vans and multi-purpose vehicles as "light trucks" for the application of safety and emissions regulations, and the licensing jurisdiction might classify such vehicles either as "cars" or as "trucks" depending on their local conventions. It is not therefore clear that the "car" numbers reported by Statistics Canada, and shown in Figure 15-12, include all those vehicles designed primarily to carry passengers....


So it seems that the manufacture can designate what is a "passenger" car vs "light truck".

If I remember correctly, the major factor in a manufactures decision is the impact on CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) calculations.

[tpl]

Thats it!   I knew I had missed something important

"If I remember correctly, the major factor in a manufactures decision is the impact on CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) calculations."

[safristi]

 Caffe LATT'eh!!!.........................I'll have a No Involved No Fun demi dead trans NON farty with NO SUGAH..NO CAFFEINE..NO CREAM...Oooh !!! gimme a glass O' WARM WATER....

[Trainman]

Thats it!   I knew I had missed something important

"If I remember correctly, the major factor in a manufactures decision is the impact on CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) calculations."

No you didn't, I just worded it differently   

SiRC  the reason that some "cars" are "trucks" is to dodge some of the emissions/safety standards.   IMHO if it quacks like a duck... but then I don't make the rules.

[brou]

I personally don't care much about the tranny type, but when I bought my new car in 2005, auto was 1K more, I wasn't ready to pay that. For the same price or very close, I would have considered it.

My first car died at 18 years of age, 281,000 KMs with its original clutch.

[safristi]

Were YA DRAG RACING it BRO(U)......Tabernac and Bienvenue............

[RunsinLight]

I think I can better express what some people are trying to say here.

It's not that manual tranny drivers are better, but. Because there is more involved in their driving experience they are more likely to remain aware of their surroundings as compared to remaining aware of your surroundings when doing nothing (automatic tranny).

If you had to sit an empty room for 7 hours. You might not fall asleep but you'd get pretty bored and would probably get kind of dozie.

[quadzilla]

I think I can better express what some people are trying to say here.

It's not that manual tranny drivers are better, but. Because there is more involved in their driving experience they are more likely to remain aware of their surroundings as compared to remaining aware of your surroundings when doing nothing (automatic tranny).

If you had to sit an empty room for 7 hours. You might not fall asleep but you'd get pretty bored and would probably get kind of dozie.

Or how about this way....

Its not that automatic drivers are better, but because they are not distracted by wondering which gear they are in or why it won't get into gear they can concentrate on their surroundings.   

Seriously, driving it a challenging task and you should never have nothing to do as you should always be scanning the road ahead for danger.

[dorin]

I am seriously starting to wonder about the mental capacity of those who claim that manual transmissions require too much concentration to drive in traffic.  WTF is that about? 

Shifting gears manually should be second nature to any competent driver.  I've driven in plenty of heavy traffic and I have never ever found it too mentally taxing.

What's next?  It's too hard to concentrate on steering because of traffic?  Jesus H. fracking  Christ, I can't believe how disgusted I am with some of the lame-ass excuses some people can come up with to justify their laziness. 

[safristi]

Hmmmm    Taxing  manual Trannies.....cos they are $1,000 cheaper   SHUSH lil babybee BOX don't YOU CRY...McSquinty will be BYE and BUY!!!

[RunsinLight]

Exactly, staying aware of your surroundings is much harder when your doing nothing then it is when you've got something (that you really don't even realize your doing) to keep your mind going.

I am seriously starting to wonder about the mental capacity of those who claim that manual transmissions require too much concentration to drive in traffic.  WTF is that about? 

Shifting gears manually should be second nature to any competent driver.  I've driven in plenty of heavy traffic and I have never ever found it too mentally taxing.

What's next?  It's too hard to concentrate on steering because of traffic?  Jesus H. fracking  Christ, I can't believe how disgusted I am with some of the lame-ass excuses some people can come up with to justify their laziness. 

[safristi]

WOT happened ta Barrie's   "MANUELS"...were they caught crossin the BORDERS In LONDON......"i'LL HAVE A LATE MODEL caddy WIF A TRICKED OUT v8 TA go???".... Zoom ZOOM......

[dorin]

I am seriously starting to wonder about the mental capacity of those who claim that manual transmissions require too much concentration to drive in traffic.  WTF is that about? 

Shifting gears manually should be second nature to any competent driver.  I've driven in plenty of heavy traffic and I have never ever found it too mentally taxing.

What's next?  It's too hard to concentrate on steering because of traffic?  Jesus H. fracking  Christ, I can't believe how disgusted I am with some of the lame-ass excuses some people can come up with to justify their laziness. 

Sorry for the angry outburst and the harsh words.   However, it is really incredibly lame to claim that manual gear shifting is somehow too intellectually taxing to do in heavy traffic.

There are plenty of convenience features on modern cars that are there for convenience (aka. laziness ) and automatic transmissions are just another such feature.  There's nothing particularly wrong with wanting convenience and there can be good physical reasons to really favour such a solution (i.e. bad knees and all).  However, claiming that manual transmissions are just too mentally difficult to use is disingenuous, bordering on insulting.

[Leviathan]

Sorry for the angry outburst and the harsh words.  

I missed it somehow! I liked it. Liked it a lot     

[quadzilla]

Sorry for the angry outburst and the harsh words.   However, it is really incredibly lame to claim that manual gear shifting is somehow too intellectually taxing to do in heavy traffic.

There are plenty of convenience features on modern cars that are there for convenience (aka. laziness ) and automatic transmissions are just another such feature.  There's nothing particularly wrong with wanting convenience and there can be good physical reasons to really favour such a solution (i.e. bad knees and all).  However, claiming that manual transmissions are just too mentally difficult to use is disingenuous, bordering on insulting.

But you keep forgetting that for a percentage of people driving that alone is a challenge. 

[UmroAyyar]

When did driving a standard transmission vehicle become intellectually challenged?

Auto transmission is a convenience, not insulting.

[ktm525]

IMO the downward trend in manuals has gotten worse due to:

cellphones
next text messaging
blackberries.

It is hard to drive in traffic with a manual tranny  if you are also trying to surf the net on your Blackberry.