Toyota Corolla Cross. Pre-programmed 10-speed CVT automatic transmission.
In just eight years, car sales with the automatic box went from 8% to 35%. This constantly evolving trend shows that nearly half of the models available in Argentina today have only this type of transmission as an option.
Now, and if we add the models that offer both alternatives, the penetration we have over 70% From the market.
The Argentine Automotive Market Online Information System (SIOMAA) reported that in the first half of 2022 the 47% of the models offered, only the automatic gearbox is available as an option, while another 25% offers it within alternatives where there is also a manual gearbox.
The Toyota Etios is the cheapest automatic transmission model on the market.
And only 28% of the models that can be found in dealerships today have manual transmission as their only option.
A manual past
Argentina is one of the countries where automatic transmission it took longer to position itself as a standard option. However, the supply of vehicles in the country has been skewed towards this technology in recent years.
In the intermediate segments it appeared, it began to position itself as the default option in the top of the range versions and in the higher segments, directly as the only option available.
Just 8 years ago, in 2015, they represented patents for vehicles with automatic transmissions just over 7% of the totalwhile the remaining 93% had a manual box.
sales of cars with automatic transmission
In 2015 the Argentine market offered 319 models of 36 different brands, of which almost half had manual transmission as the only option, while a 30% of them had some proposals for automatic transmission, especially in the top-of-the-range versions.
Even so, the patented vehicles were mostly manual transmissions (93%).
Just 26% of the models on sale had an automatic transmission as their only option and that was mostly high-end vehicles with very little sales volume.
automatic cultivation
Four years later, the vehicle offering had grown to 380 different models and a few more brands had been added to the market, now there were 56.
The number of models with manual gearbox only had been reduced by 10 points and represented 34% of the total models offered, while models with some automatic gearbox proposals already accounted for just over 66% of the total.
sales of cars with automatic transmission
Sales of automatic vehicles in 2019 accounted for the 25% of the total, even if the following year the pandemic interrupted all the processes that were taking place in the world, which, added to the change in the cycle of local politics and macroeconomics, ended up reconfiguring the offer.
The number of models available on the market today was significantly reduced (264) although many of the brands continue to resist (there are 51 with active offer).
And while progress appears to have stalled over the past year, the trend looks irreversible and crisis-proof.
Types of automatic boxes
It is worth clarifying that there are different types of transmission; and although the goal of not undergoing changes is perfectly fulfilled, each works differently from the other.
In the VW Gol MSi AT, with box with torque converter, it was one of the cheapest automatic 0 km.
With torque converter: It is a mechanism that replaces the traditional clutch and is what makes the connection between the gearbox and the engine. It is the most used system among automatic transmissions. And in general, it is usually the one that offers maximum comfort thanks to the smoothness it has in every phase of the march.
CVT or stepless variator: the name of Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT from its name in English) refers to the possibility of offering infinite ratios in its operation. Each gear in a gearbox is made up of a gear that has a particular size and meshes with another each time that gear is selected.
But the CVT boxes are composed of two conical pulleys that can vary their diameter and thus allow the chain that unites them and transmits the power of the engine to have an infinite variability of ratios. The feeling is like accelerating a moped, without jolts or jerks as there is no specific gear shift like with any other gear.
A few years ago, automatic transmission options were reserved for high-end vehicles.
The CVT boxes are characterized by being comfortable transmissions, for the fluidity of their operation. But when you have to accelerate a lot, they give the feeling of not responding with the required energy: the noise generated by the motor in acceleration is not related to the speed gain.
Double clutch: They are the most comfortable boxes with most of the technology. As the name indicates, they consist of two clutches.
One of these is responsible for the even gears and the other for the odd ones, so that there are always two gears engaged but one disengaged. When shifting gears, one of the clutches disengages while the other engages. The transition between gear and gear is almost imperceptible.
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