Quote:
Originally Posted by Suberman
Ferrari and Porsche do not build a manual transmission anymore (well, really they never did but now their transmission suppliers don't)
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Porsche has manuals in the Boxster, Cayman and 911. They even paid ZF to develop a seven speed manual. Chevrolet developed a seven speed for the Corvette.
Sedans and SUV's are preferred to sports cars and convertibles, but people still buy the latter. Manuals are not going anywhere, there will always be a market for them, albeit a small one.
They've lost their efficiency advantage to automatics with more gears (or softer gearing) and they've lost their performance advantage to computer controlled dual clutch manuals, but there will always be a market for sporty cars and minimalist cars to have them at least be optional. The very top end of performance (the kind that rely on magazine numbers) have moved away, but for things like the twins, a Miata and Mustangs and non Z Corvettes, they still make perfect sense to many of us.