Ok, this might be good for a Friday thread
For long that I'm wondering why in a small country like Switzerland, with many mountain roads has plenty of cars with automatic transmission?
Is this something that the locals like or it's more an imported stuff from people where these kind of cars are more used in their country (USA, Canada, Australia, ...)?


I even saw sport cars with automatic transmission! :O
For these kind of cars I would understand the option for going to have a semi-automatic version as they have for example in F1. But full automatic transmission in a sport car? Are those ones really funny to drive as the manual transmission's ones?


Also, are automatic transmission's cars more easy to sell in the 2nd-hand market?

Not one of my numerous Swiss relatives and friends has ever had a car with an automatic transmission.

Do you have any evidence to back up your assertion?


edit - looking at the cars on autoscout seems something like 60% are some form of automatic which seems a very high proportion to me for Europe (USA is at about 96%). Although I suspect a great many are DSG or similar.

Because relatively few people drive a standard transmission as well as an automatic drives itself these days.

I know exactly one person that has a car with automatic transmission. All others including myself drive manuals.

Automatic transmission is not common at all here. Among the Swiss that is, not sure about others (esp Americans - in the US I've never seen anyone drive a car with manual transmission)

We have an automatic, but it's not a performance car, just a Santa Fe. We bought it before I had my hip op and it was simply more comfortable to drive. It's a little underpowered IMHO and I think we'll probably get a manual next time.

With large engined luxury cars, automatic is standard, only cars below 1600cc are more likely to be manual.

I don't know anyone with an automatic, including those with 2l and above engines.

I wouldn't want one.

What I do want is self driving cars. Too many idiots out there, present company excluded of course.

As a guy from a completely flat area, I hate having to stop on steep inclines - of which Switzerland has many - with manual transmission.Automatics don't have that problem.

Plus their much nicer in the ubiquitous Zurich traffic jams.

Yes, my assertion came from looking the 2nd hand car deals. Even here in EF it usually appears a lot of those automatic cars and that starts to make me wonder why so many in Switzerland.

I see no point in stirring pudding while driving.

I don't drive an automatic. I don't drive a manual. I drive a DSG. It is a performance car and the 0-60 times are faster than a manual...

I've also found it to be relatively more common here than in UK. Not as staple as in US but just more common.

One feature I think is quite useful with automatics here is the easier hill start - many roads and cities have junctions and traffic lights on steep inclines, with an automatic is just easier to stop/start on a climb, especially for more "challenged" drivers.

I don't think that's a rule. At least not a rule for Europe as far as I know and saw.

OK, I'll bite. Name one advantage of manual gear changing, over a VW / Audi DSG automatic gear change?

I guess it all depends on which country you are comparing with. I am from Denmark, and due to the tax on cars being 180% car are extremely expensive. This can be seen in the level of extras added to the cars. so compared to DK indeed there is a lot more automatic cars here. but if you compare to germany i guess its more or less the same.

Easier to push start.

True. But it must be 40 years since I had to do that - and not with a VW...

My manual Yeti doesn't roll back. Modern technology is wonderful.

There great advantage is never needing to use a hand brake which can freeze up in the winter, very useful if you spend a lot of time in the mountains.
I thought that was a bad idea with any car that has a catalytic converter.

Besides the price and maintenance?
You can control the RPM in each gear. You control when you want to change it and not the car. You can even reduce from 4th to 2nd gear if you want to (hopefully you know what are you doing when doing this kind of reductions in a car).