Vehicle transmissions are not only extremely important for improving fuel economy, they also exert a major influence on driving performance. The performance demands on automatic transmissions vary greatly depending on the market, and since there is not a single transmission in existence that satisfies all these varied demands, automakers deploy a variety of systems, each matched to a particular market. Employing the world’s most commonly-used combination - a torque converter and stepped automatic transmission - as the basic structure, and by using technology that substantially reduces slip in starting devices, Mazda has brought together the benefits of each system and developed a highly efficient automatic transmission witha substantially direct drive feel that will be perfectly suited to conditions in numerous global markets.