One of two things is going to cause me to ditch a manual transmission for an automatic: either my left leg will no longer be useable to work the clutch pedal or what’s left of me will be feeding the grass on some hill somewhere. That’s it. And no, don’t say racing…much as I love to drag race, I’m more of a road-course type. The manual transmission has endeared itself to me ever since I first learned how to ride a dirt bike. Going up and down the gears on a Honda Trail 70, or doing the semi-automatic shifting on a Honda three-wheeler gave me the desire. Barking gears in a 240Z-swapped Datsun truck and a ’50 Chevrolet that was wilder than all hell gave me the thrill. And between the little Dodge Ram 50 that I practices on at one of my earliest jobs and the ’87 Dodge Diplomat that I used to finally commit hoonage with, I’ve come to the conclusion that if it’s at all possible, I’ll be stirring gears until I’m dead. From late-model GTOs to that little eco-minded Cruze I’m daily-driving now, the manual transmission will always have a home wherever I roam.
But some sobering news has crossed the desk today. Out of all of the vehicles sold in the United States for 2019, 1.1% purchased a manual transmission car. Admittedly, you have to hunt for anything that isn’t a typical hot-rod choice…the Mustang, Camaro, Challenger and Corvette all offered row-your-own boxes. But what else did? Not much. Now, let’s drive the point home: in that same time frame, 1.6% of buyers opted for an electric vehicle.
We’re no dummies. The take on manual transmissions has been declining for decades. Even though it’s proven that a lot of distracted driving issues could be solved by the use of third pedals, and even though an EV powertrain can be matched to a manual transmission, as proven by the Mustang Lithium concept that Ford displayed at SEMA 2019, the chances are just about nonexistent that manual transmissions will rebound at all. All I can say to that: keep the slushboxes. I’m quite fine giving my left leg something to do on a drive.
How many more manuals would be sold if they were available on more vehicles or classed as the standard transmission like they used to be?
How many of the ev’s sold are to private and gov fleets who mandate ev purchase?
Supply and demand isn’t behind these figures. There are some interesting and fast ev’s being built, but that doesn’t mean we want to own them.
At my wife’s insistence we bought a 6 speed standard Sentra last summer
Dealer had to go to Maine and bring it back to Mass
I have never owned an automatic vehicle in my life nor I desire to have one.
My last stick car was a 2004 GTO. This was a car that was to be a weekend cruiser but had so much fun driving it, put 10K miles a year for 5 yrs. Would still own the car except the great recession hit and it was ugly for me.
Still looking for another one to this day. Just can’t find the right one.
Not a surprise as few manual trans are available these days.
I purchased a new Kia Forte with a manual last year, it was one of the few new small cars available with a manual and without a turbo. Unfortunately the ETC makes it somewhat unpleasant to drive but still better than an electronically controlled automatic.