Significantly more used car buyers are searching for automatic cars rather than manual, new figures reveal.
The proportion of searches for automatics on AA Cars has risen from 9.9% in 2014 to 18.6% this year. An AA Populus survey of 20,000 drivers also found more than half think automatics are easier to drive.
Over the same period since 2014, the proportion of automatic cars listed for sale has increased from 23.4% to 32.1%.
Meanwhile, in the decade between 2007 and 2017, figures from the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders show the number of new automatic cars registered each year has jumped from 20% to 40%.
James Fairclough, CEO of AA Cars, said: “Automatic vehicles are being manufactured in greater numbers, but it is pleasing to see that drivers are responding positively to this added supply with even more of them actively searching for these cars.
“It is also no surprise to see that congested London is one of the best-stocked areas for automatic cars as they require much less effort to drive when someone is stuck in stop-start traffic.”
