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Indian market: automakers see surge in demand for automatics
Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 7:19 am
by Standardshifter
"NEW DELHI: The third pedal is slowly disappearing from the Indian market."
"From just 2% till five years ago, automatics now form around 12-14% of the new cars sales with a bulk coming from the top-end sedan and SUVs sold that are sold with automatic options only."
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 887552.cms
Re: Indian market: automakers see surge in demand for automa
Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 7:48 am
by Shadow
From the article: "The segment leader BMW says luxury cars can only be enjoyed with automatic gears."
So when did BMW start considering themselves a "luxury" brand rather than a "sport luxury" brand? I'd expect a comment like that from Mercedes rather than BMW.
Re: Indian market: automakers see surge in demand for automa
Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 10:15 pm
by Bill B
I read the article. It said that Automatics are known for having better acceleration. That could be true on some vehicles, but according to a Motorweek test on a Honda Element, the manual would go 0-60 in 8.1 seconds, and the Auto came in slower at 9.6 seconds.
Re: Indian market: automakers see surge in demand for automa
Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2012 10:34 pm
by Shadow
Years ago, a manual trans version of a car was almost always faster and more economical than the automatic trans version of the same car. Today, those gaps have narrowed considerably. And it's not unusual for an automatic to be faster and more economical than a manual. But I still prefer the manual anyway because it is so much more satisfying to drive.
Re: Indian market: automakers see surge in demand for automa
Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 9:09 am
by Squint
Shadow wrote:Years ago, a manual trans version of a car was almost always faster and more economical than the automatic trans version of the same car. Today, those gaps have narrowed considerably. And it's not unusual for an automatic to be faster and more economical than a manual. But I still prefer the manual anyway because it is so much more satisfying to drive.
+1. All that needs to be said.