When you consider what the wholesale cost of the auto is over the manual and compare that to the costs to make/stock/transport and shuffle around (14) vs (7) ELIO's 24/7 plus have to make and then inventory parts for what (5) years beyond when a model is phased out, and support (2) vs (1) versions over the long term I'd bet that the cost would be a non-issue.
So if cost wasn't a issue, reliblity wasn't a issue and cost was the same what is your objection?
Auto version of the transmission that came out in 1999 has been in service since 2002, and backed by Toyota so reliblity issues shouldn't be a problem, and if it is a cappy trans why is ELIO using it?
Only additional hardware being added is a manual clutch pedal assembly...and those are pretty reliable, so really all we are talking about is adding a latch to hold clutch pedal in downward position while in "auto" mode, a switch attached to that which signals trans ecu...programing trans so when manual mode is selected ECU is relived of clutch and shifting duties....
It's NOT a case a UNPROVEN auto shifting mechanism is being added.