A question for the Brits...

I was reading a book in which the character is trying to rent and car with an automatic transmission in England and none of the car rental companies have one available. Is this normal? The writer made it sound like an automatic was rare. I mean, around here, if a rental company didn't have automatics they'd go out of business in a week.

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SW-User

When I was looking for a new car in 2018 there was only a few automatic cars in each showroom or outside it. In the 80s and 90s I think they became a thing but before this they were probably next to unheard of. Now over the last 3-5 years since hybrid and electric cars are common it’s now quite easy to find an automatic car. I have an electric Mini Cooper S. I remember my Nan driving an automatic gear box in her cars she had in the 90s but even up to 20 years after that they were not easy to come by that I really wanted until now.