Why hasn't automatic transmission in cars become popular in India?

There are two reasons:   1. As said, cars with AT are costlier to buy and maintain and have lower fuel economy, so they cater to only large car segment, which itself would be 20% (guess) of Indian car market.   2. Since 80% is MT, using AT will make you unable to drive someone else's car: a rental, a friend's car, relative's car. This means you will be driver for yourself but not much use at other place, say a long drive with multiple drivers. Not a useful position to be in, obviously.   Combined effect of cost and intertia makes AT market very low. This leads to vicious cycle. Overall, it appears that it will be a long time before AT becomes norm, or even viable alternative.   PS: Hyundai i10 is one popular small/mid segment car that offers AT and we decided to buy it (INR 50k, 15% more in purchase) but dropped it because of reason#2.

The idea that automatic cars are costly and fuel inefficient and that's why people choose manual transmission is not entirely true. Automatic cars are costly in India because, the demand for automatic cars is less. In the US, you are considered rich if you drive a manual shift. A plausible factor for the dominance of manual shifts in the Indian auto sector is the British/European legacy that India inherits. Most of the JVs that Indian companies struck soon after its independence in '47, discounting the one Mahindra had with Wiley's was with European car companies. The Ambassadors and the Padminis were are derived their European counterparts. The Hyundais, Daewoos et.all who entered the Indian market post '91 followed the trend.   Fuel efficiency, ya I agree automatic cars are less fuel efficient than manual shifts mainly when you drive in open country, on highways. In the city, when you have to shift gears every other minute, fuel efficiency of manual shift and automatic shift isnt all that different.

Well, as everyone has pressed, automatic cars are slightly on the inefficient side and India is a country where efficiency is a top priority. Automatic cars never saw the day about a decade back because India was still emerging as an economy for the car market. A few select manufacturers would offer automatic cars at a high premium (Basically import), which discouraged the majority from buying them. But I believe the main reason was poor after-sales and expensive spares for automatic transmission as they were straight away imported and not locally manufactured as the volumes were low. Also the service network was not as spread out as it is today. So if you had a breakdown in the middle of a long journey, you would be stranded as the local mechanic would not be able to repair the electronic witchcraft. Also, breakdowns were more prominent as the road conditions were pathetic, coupled with heavy monsoons and waterlogged scenarios which could very easily damage the transmission. However, times are changing. Today, India is much better connected in terms or roads and service centers, spending capacity of the people has increased, automatic transmissions are just as reliable and repairable as manual transmissions and available at almost the same price. So, the trend is shifting towards automatic transmission as more and more manufacturers are keen on launching AT variants starting all the way from a Tata Nano AMT (Rs. 300,000) to all the big contenders like Skoda, BMW, etc.

Indians have only two concerns while selecting a car. 1, the mileage and 2, the price. "Kitna detei he" is the first and the favorite lone when Indians comment on a car. Automatic transmission works strictly as designed and works correctly. They give much relief, particularly in a dense traffic of Delhi and other cities, to our knees and the left foot. I think it is worth spending on fuel than over using our knees and body. Manual transmission is misused in India. I've seen people shifting to the 5th gear which is actually an overdrive and to be used only beyond 70 kph speed, only at 25 kph. This is strange. The reasons why people shift the gears so fast coz they think it saves them on fuel. This is not true anyway.

Surrogate for masculinityWhenever I have asked any Indian men why Indian men prefer manual vehicles, even well educated, technosavvy Indian men, they always say - Oh automatics are for women.. and all salesmen say to people, madam can drive automatic easily..There is a gender related correlation in the indian male mind between manual transmission and automatic vehicles. That I believe is the single largest difference behind India continuing to buy manual cars, despite automatic technology being available and affordable everywhere. I don't buy the expense argument. Indian men will buy Manual transmission cars worth a million rupees when Automatic cars are available for less than half that price. Secondly, the fuel economy difference is nothing compared to the pain of shifting gears every time a cow crosses the road, or a pothole appears in the road, or a bus stops right in front of you.. Also, modern CVT Automatic cars offer better fuel economy than Manual cars.But whereas the Indian male is quite adept at accepting the latest gadgets that provide automation, when it comes to using an automatic transmission, he refuses to budge, and continues adamantly, to use manual transmission.I keep talking about Indian men, because the male:female ratio among Indian drivers is probably like 99:1 or even worse, at least from what I see all over our streets. A few rich or upper middle class women do drive cars, but they are often the second driver.One Freudian explanation for this overwhelming preference of Indian men in buying manual transmission vehicles, despite the obvious benefits of automatics, and defying the trend internationally in developed and semi-developed economies, may be a smaller pen1s size. The gear level might act as a surrogate pen1s for Indian men which is much bigger and thicker than his own miserably endowed organ.That is why it defies common sense. Have you ever driven in Indian conditions? Only some such outlandish reasons can explain the inexplicable and frustrating preference of Indian men for manual cars despite driving in the worst driving conditions of the world, and despite driving amongst people having the worst driving manners in the world.The manual drive makes Indian drivers even more rude. Because they need to use the clutch and downshift every time they brake and upshift again, they have learnt to avoid braking, honking madly and making the craziest of turns and manoeuvres to get around an obstacle or a person or a car in front of them or even a traffic light, just to avoid the extra effort of changing gears manually each time.Sadly when these drivers go abroad, they bring their manners with them. You have to see the driving etiquettes of South Asian taxi drivers in the West to believe it.

Automatic transmission are in a full swing and they are fuel efficient too at a considerable price, the recent car Honda BR-V is also a automatic transmission with CVT.The only reason is that, it is not in much in demand and people are not much used to them.They are little bit hard to maintain.And since most people already own a manual transmission they do not find the use of another car which is of AMT (personal experience).

Only in America is manual transmission considered high-end, simply for driving pleasure. In all other parts of the world, manual transmission is considered to be the norm and automatic is considered to be higher-end. My guess is that given the average salary for the average Indian, automatic transmission is not worth the cost in wages.

Milage: MT offers 3 - 3.5 km/l more than AT for the same make-model Maintenance: Parts are cheaper for MT. Finding a mechanic for AT is a task itself Mentality: Indians are cost centric. Penny pinchers. Economy first convinience later. Macho: It means "Control" but that sounds less dynamic, so we call it Macho. If you are rally driver or car enthusiast with adventure on your mind then MT offers more than AT any day. BTW driving a car on Indian roads is Adventure itself (cattle, dogs, auto drivers, 2 wheelers and the worst humans on feet are most unpredictable. You never know which way they will go, when they will stop/start/go on and whether they will give any indication or signal for anything). This considerably impacts your AT's milage because of sudden downshifts. Price: MT variants are cheaper than their AT variants in India. Availibility: 80% of Indian cars fall under Rs 700k bracket which itself has very few AT options (Hyundai i10, Hyundai grand i10, MS A-Star, Tata Nano X to name a few). Technology: Most of them offer 4 speed automatic without the turbo converter which means overtaking on highway is risky !! Overtaking is our habit and birth right !! We learn 2 wheelers first and then 4 wheelers, but we employ the 2 wheel tactics to 4 wheels on road. We are always in a hurry but still never reach on time. Infrastructure: Indian roads are unique !! Potholes & Water logging ensures that AT suffers more which leads to more trips to service center which impacts "economy" (most important factor) Safety: All manufacturers offer more safety features in AT than MT for the same make-model (god knows why). But the before mentioned factors make it difficult to change Indian mentality. We prefer economy over safety too !! Verdict: AT is need of the hour for congested urban traffic (especially bigger in cities) however car makers need to bridge the gap between AT & MT cars on all factors considerably (in Indian context it means make AT cheaper than MT on all factors) to change the Indian buying habit.