Transmission is one of the most important and most complex mechanical systems on road motor vehicles whose task is to transform and transfer power, torque and speed from the engine to the drive wheels in order to obtain the most efficient engine efficiency and better performance characteristics of the engine or vehicle. Gearbox is the most important transmission component because it has a direct role in changing wheel torque and speed on drive wheels, changing the direction of movement of the vehicle foward or backward, and stopping the torque and enabling the engine to operate while the vehicle is stopped. The first gearboxes were manual gearboxes and were easy-made and therefore cheap to manufacture, install and repair, and required the driver to choose the desired gear. Further development of vehicles resulted in development of automatic transmissions that did not require the driver to select the gear ratio while driving, but only to select the direction of movement of the vehicle when moving from the stationary position. Such features allowed the driver a simpler and more enjoyable ride, but some of the drawbacks were slower gear shifting, slower vehicle acceleration, and increased fuel consumption. Because of their complexity, automatic gearboxes were more expensive to manufacture and maintain and often had a larger mass than manual gearboxes. With the development of new technologies over the past few years, the disadvantages of automatic transmissions are reduced and their usage is increasing. This study will outline the overall transmission system of road motor vehicles with an emphasis on automatic transmissions and their types and their impact on exploitation characteristics of road motor vehicles.