(a) CVT technology has a real problem with torque - did then, still has now.
(b) market entry with small/basic cars never works - there is no such thing as 'trickle up', only trickle down.

CVT used to make some commercial/practical sense ... before autos got better ... ergo GM pulling the plug on CVT production. Modern automatics are very good indeed. Back in the 60s, comparing the seamless shift of a DAF 55 with the shift surges of, say, a HydraMatic, the outlook looked good. After the DAF, CVT all but disappeared until the last decade or so.

A good site to see just how many ideas are out there is:
http://www.toomonline.com/gearboxlinks.htm