Transmission trends in the U.S. market; Chrysler introduces 8-speed AT

63.4% of vehicles built in North America are 6-speed ATs

2012/10/05

Summary

 Following is an outline of transmission type configurations of the passenger cars and light trucks (SUV, pickups and vans) that major OEMs manufactured and sold in the U.S.

 The first half of this report covers vehicles manufactured in North America (the U.S., Canada and Mexico) for the U.S. market and the latter half covers all the vehicles sold in the U.S., which include imports.

Transmission configurations for vehicles manufactured in North America (Model Year 2003-2012)

Vehicles
manufactured
in
North America		 All the vehicles manufactured in North America * Most transmissions of vehicles manufactured in North America for the U.S. market are automatic. In MY2012, the ratio of ATs slightly rose to 95.5%, from 93.6% in MY2003.
* The ratio of 6-speed ATs is sharply rising. In MY2009, each of the 4-, 5- and 6-speed ATs accounted for almost the same ratio of around 30%. In MY2012, however, 6-speed ATs held 63.4%, showing the growing trend of multi-speed gear shifting.
* In MY2003, 4-speed ATs accounted for 78.1%, which had gradually decreased to only 7.5% in MY2012.
* The ratio of 5-speed ATs dropped as well to 17.9% in MY2012.
* ATs with seven and more gears appeared later in the 2000s and accounted for 1.9% in MY2012.
Passenger cars Passenger cars * The AT ratio of passenger cars has stably been above 90%. In MY2012, ATs accounted for 91.5%, while MTs accounted for 8.5%.
* The ratio of 6-speed ATs is rapidly growing also for passenger cars, from 19.2% in MY2009 to 59.3% in MY2012.
* Chrysler introduced an 8-speed AT model in MY2012, which accounted for 1.6% of the passenger cars.
* Although 4-speed ATs held 84.0% in MY2003, the ratio dropped to 8.1% in MY2012.
Light trucks Light trucks * Most transmissions of light trucks are automatic. In MY2012, ATs accounted for 98.8%.
* While both 5- and 6-speed ATs held about 40% respectively in MY2009/ 2010, the ratio of 6-speed ATs sharply rose to 66.6% in MY2012, supported by Ford, which promoted application of 6-speed ATs.
* 4-speed ATs held only 7.1% and 5-speed ATs held 19.5% in MY2012.
Source: WARD'S Automotive Yearbooks
(Note) 1. Figures for MY2012 are provisional data of a mid-year survey in August 2012.
2. The data apply to the models produced by the 14 automakers in North America (US, Canada, Mexico) and sold in the United States.
3. The 14 automakers manufacturing in North America are the Detroit Three (GM, Ford, Chrysler), seven Japanese automakers (Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Fuji Heavy (Subaru), Suzuki), and four European and Korean automakers (VW, BMW, Daimler (Mercedes-Benz), Hyundai-Kia Group).
4. The figures for 4-speed AT in MY2003 include those of 3-speed AT (below 0.1%).


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