The French company was Cotal, which produced an early electrically controlled preselector transmission used in luxury cars including Delahaye models. Its gearbox became associated with high-end French cars during the 1930s and 1940s.
Cotal’s design used epicyclic, or planetary, gearsets and electromagnetic clutches. The driver selected a gear in advance with a dashboard or steering-column control; operating the clutch pedal then engaged the chosen ratio. This made the system easier to shift than a conventional crash gearbox, although it was not identical to a modern fully automatic transmission.
Cotal gearboxes were fitted to cars from manufacturers such as Delahaye, Delage, Hotchkiss, Salmson and Voisin. Delahaye’s Type 135, for example, could be ordered with a four-speed Cotal preselector alongside its partially synchronized manual gearbox. The system’s weight, cost and dependence on electrical equipment limited its use mainly to expensive vehicles.
Cotal is therefore often described as an early automatic or semi-automatic transmission maker, but “preselector gearbox” is the more precise technical description. The distinctive feature was electromagnetic gear engagement rather than a torque converter.