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Originally Posted by swamp2
I disagree. I think there is much more use among journalists and enthusiasts of automated manual or dual clutch for dual clutch units. For web sites like Autotrade absolutely for the masses you probably will find DCTs listed at automatics.
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Yeah, for the masses, I definitely see things going increasingly in the direction Ford seems to be headed with their PowerShift marketing:
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...117961249.html
Lot's of interesting language in there - interesting from a mass marketing perspective, I mean. Some things stick out like:
"Ford Six-Speed PowerShift Automatic"
"Ford's new dual-clutch PowerShift automatic..."
"PowerShift is an automatic because the gear changes are coordinated by a computer that directs the clutches to engage and disengage in a way that provides seamless delivery of torque to the wheels, even during gear changes."
They really are gearing up to convince buyers this is a very fancy new type of automatic transmission.
For enthusiasts and for marketing of performance related vehicles I could see the term "automatic" perhaps being avoided as much as possible especially in the near term. But if DCTs do start to steal significant marketshare away from traditional automatics in basic appliance-type applications (which is by no means guaranteed, granted), accompanied with marketing campaigns and press releases like the one above, I think the momentum will be become tough to overcome such that eventually most everyone will just give in and call them automatics. I don't mean OEMs will necessarily only refer to them as such - they'll probably have tidy marketing names like Fords. But they probably won't waste too much money painstakingly trying to avoid associating them with the term "automatic" at all costs. After all, like I say, the point of the marketing from Ford (and probably others to follow, I suspect) is to convince everyone that these are some damn fine automatics. So nothing to be ashamed of there. And there's going to be a lot dollars spent on that message. As a player in the same industry at some point you may just find it in your best interest stop fighting those dollars and start piggybacking off of them.
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The problem with terms like Steptronic is that it is simply a mostly aribitray, concocted word without much intrinsic meaning. You can contrast that against dual clutch transmission, which describes a great deal about the unit.
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True enough although BMW has attached the term to only one type of transmission - a planetary automatic. In that sense it has a deterministic meaning, even though its just a jargon. I notice with the new 8 speed they seem to have retired the Steptronic brand now and they seem content to just call it the automatic or sport automatic. Like you say in your last post, if the F10 m5 shows up with the 8 speed auto too, it will be interesting to see how they pitch it. They could very well refer to it like they do in the X5/X6 M - "M Sport Automatic"