The UK’s love affair for small cars with manual gearboxes is well known but there’s no reason why the two should be irrevocably linked. While there’s no doubt a manual gearbox can make a car more engaging, more fun to drive, the best small automatic cars are great to own.
After all, if you spend all your time sat in traffic or constantly nipping around a city, all you’re offered by a manual car is the ability to keep your left hand and left leg busy with a million gear changes. Why not remove all that stress and allow an autobox to take the strain out of city gridlock?
That’s not forgetting the group of people who, for any number of reasons, can’t drive a manual car. Every vehicle on this list can be driven on an automatic-only licence.
While in the past, small automatic cars were slow, thirsty, jerky and expensive, the models on this list are all smooth, quick-shifting and engaging to drive. We’ve sorted the wheat from the chaff and selected excellent cars that also have brilliant automatic gearboxes.
Best small automatics 2024
Peugeot 208
The best automatic gearbox available on a small car
Pros:
✅ Looks fantastic
✅ High-tech, high-quality interior
Cons:
❌ Rear seats are cramped
We think the Peugeot 208 range as a whole has plenty to offer, and rate it very highly – it’s stylish, great to drive and has a gorgeous interior. It’s a world away from the stodgy superminis Peugeot was building during the 2000s, and is a reminder that this is the company that brought us arguably the best small car ever made – the Peugeot 205.
The strength of the 208’s automatic offering is remarkable, though. It’s an eight-speed ‘traditional’ automatic, which Peugeot calls EAT8. It’s optional for 100hp models, commanding around a £1,400 premium and standard for 130hp variants. We reckon the 208 is the best small automatic on the market, and though it’s quite pricey for a small car it’s well worth the outlay.
Price new: From £19,190
Search for a used Peugeot 208 on Parkers here
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Skoda Fabia
The grown-up small car with a great automatic
Pros:
✅ Mature, spacious interior
✅ Efficient engines
Cons:
❌ A bit dull to drive
The Skoda Fabia is closely related to the Volkswagen Polo and SEAT Ibiza but it’s better than either of them, with a roomy cabin, straightforward dashboard and overall mature character. It’s a car to lower the blood pressure rather than one to set the pulse racing, but that’s no bad thing in a daily commuter.
And if you’re in need of an automatic, you can’t do much better. You can have the automatic gearbox with either the 110hp three-cylinder engine or the 150hp four-cylinder, and in both guises it works effectively and provides a good driving experience.
Price new: From £17,800
Search for a used Skoda Fabia for sale here
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MINI Hatch
Even automatic buyers can find a MINI to suit them
Pros:
✅ The most characterful small car
✅ Fantastic fun to drive
Cons:
❌ Can get pricey
❌ Not very practical
The MINI is one of the most popular small cars around, and it’s certainly one of the most characterful by virtue of its cheery retro styling, fun handling and vast realms of personalisation options.
It’s good news for two-pedal fans, then, that the MINI Hatch is offered with both a six-speed manual and a very well-rounded seven-speed automatic gearbox.
It’s a dual-clutch type (except on firebreathing JCW hot hatch models… they get an eight-speed torque converter) and so offers snappy shifts whether you’re pootling round town or zipping down an A road. Since the manual gearbox isn’t exactly the MINI’s strongest suit in the first place, there’s no shame in opting for this automatic.
Price new: From £22,265
Search for a used MINI Hatch on Parkers here
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Toyota Yaris
The hybrid hatchback comes of age
Pros:
✅ Efficient and cheap to run
✅ Ten-year warranty
Cons:
❌ Expensive to buy
The Toyota Yaris of this generation comes in one variant – a fully hybrid powertrain complete with continuously variable automatic transmission. On the Yaris of ten years ago, that would have filled us with dread, but these days the Yaris is a very good little car indeed.
The hybrid engine easily achieves over 60mpg without trying too hard and the squat, cutesy little Yaris even handles nicely in the corners. The interior’s a bit cramped though, and with a clever engine and no real entry-level model the price of Yaris ownership starts at quite a chunky sum.
Price new: From £21,460
Find a used Toyota Yaris for sale on Parkers here
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Vauxhall Corsa
Closely related to the Peugeot 208 and all the better for it
Pros:
✅ More conventional than 208 sibling
✅ Great engine lineup
Cons:
❌ Low-rent interior
If the avant-garde design of the Peugeot 208 is a little racy for you, then don’t panic – Vauxhall sells the Corsa, which is now based on exactly the same mechanical underpinnings as that car.
That means not only is this Corsa a huge improvement over the outgoing model in terms of driving dynamics, interior ambiance and efficiency, it also gets the same sublime EAT8 automatic gearbox – an eight-speed torque converter that shifts quickly and with the absolute minimum of fuss.
Easy driving manners and a very conventional (in a good way) interior mean the Corsa’s a simple car to get along with, and a wide array of trim levels means you should be able to find something to suit almost any budget.
Price new: From £17,440
Search for a used Vauxhall Corsa on Parkers here
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Renault Clio Hybrid
One of our favourite small cars is now available as an automatic hybrid
Pros:
✅ Great value
✅ Huge, practical boot
Cons:
❌ Tight back seats
The Renault Clio once topped this list in its previously-available 130hp petrol automatic form. But that powertrain is no longer available to buy in the UK – in its place is the fiendishly clever 140hp hybrid system, which by its nature is available only as an automatic.
It’s not quite as slick as Toyota’s system but is more powerful and almost as efficient. While we’ve had quite the moan about Renault’s hybrid cars in some forms, the system seems to work quite well in the Clio. And if you want this multi award-winning car as an automatic, it’s your only option.
Price new: From £18,795
Search for a used Renault Clio on Parkers here
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SEAT Ibiza
Sister car to the Fabia – almost as good
Pros:
✅ Looks good
✅ Huge boot, spacious back seat
Cons:
❌ No electric, hybrid, or plug-in models
The Ibiza’s been one of Parkers’ favourite small cars for a long time and there’s almost as much to recommend it as the Skoda Fabia (above). The only real reason it’s lower on this list is that the Ibiza is an older design, that despite a facelift doesn’t feel quite as new and shiny as the Fabia – and it’s more expensive, too.
There’s not much in it, though, and if you like the Ibiza’s slicker styling next to the Fabia’s ever-so-slightly dowdy image you might prefer the SEAT.
Price new: From £17,755
Find a used SEAT Ibiza for sale on Parkers here
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Honda Jazz
A small car with a big interior
Pros:
✅ Amazingly versatile and spacious
✅ High-quality dashboard
Cons:
❌ Not the best motorway cruiser
The Honda Jazz has always had a couple of major selling points. It’s amazingly versatile and spacious for such a small car – there’s room for four six-foot adults in comfort, and the clever rear seats give you loads of options for carrying large items. It’s also a very dependable model, with a strong reputation for reliability and ease-of-driving.
The latest model comes with a clever hybrid powertrain and automatic gearbox as the only option, which gives good economy and nippy performance around town. You’ll pay for the privilege, though – the Jazz isn’t a cheap small car.
Price new: From £20,860
Find a used Honda Jazz for sale on Parkers here
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Fiat 500 Electric
Fiat’s iconic city car gets an all-electric makeover
Pros:
✅ Great range for a small car
✅ Cool, characterful design
Cons:
❌Cramped boot and back seats
Fiat had quite the task on its hands to reinvent the 500 again – after all, the 2007 model did such a good job already. It’s pulled it off, though, and the new-for-2020 500 is every bit the modern icon we hoped it would be.
As a fully electric car, it doesn’t have a transmission as such – making it just like an automatic to drive, with only two pedals. Like all EVs, it’s peppy and quick around town, but it also has enough performance and a long enough range to be a viable longer-distance car, too. Models with the larger battery pack can go almost 200 miles on a full charge.
Pair that ability with a high-tech and well-designed interior and standout retro-futuristic looks and we think the 500 Electric is a real winner.
Price new: From £24,435
Find a used Fiat 500 Electric for sale on Parkers here
