[Tcoat]

Not going to respond directly to each person but here are some realities of the auto industry that outsiders frequently do not grasp.

In no particular order:
1) Autos sell more often then manuals - We enthusiasts that love our MTs are the exception not the rule. The vast majority of the car buying public buy a car to get from point A to point B and just don't give a crap if they are "more connected" or any of the other MT proponents arguments.

2) Manufacturers make exactly the number of cars each year that their business plan called for - Regardless of if a car sells over or under expectations they follow the plan. End of story. The planned number is not a random guess but a very carefully researched and thought out goal with numbers set for years ahead. Even if everything that they made is sitting unsold in a storage compound or all of the production run is sold before it comes off the line they are not going to change the numbers mid plan.

3) It can take 2 or 3 years to increase or decrease the numbers produced - It is not just a matter of flipping a switch and turning the production up or down. Every single aspect from assembly line availability to the parts supply have been planned for years and even a slight change can take an unbelievable amount of time and cash. Contracts with the suppliers that make everything from trim washers to full body shells specify exactly how many of each are expected and to increase or decrease that number is going to cost the manufacturer big bucks. The supply of parts is in a delicate balance and anybody that has ever had to be involved in building and tooling a plant from scratch will know exactly how complex this is. Car manufacturers these days should really be called "assemblers" since they rarely actually make many of the parts themselves anymore.

4) Comparing the big volume "muscle cars" to specialty cars is ridiculous - The vast majority of the Mustangs and Camaros ever built were not the muscle versions but the base line "hairdresser" ones. These cars are little more then 2 door econoboxes that just look like their performance brethren. There are 100s of every lower level of these cars for each performance level one. If you only considered the true, factory made performance, versions then the sales numbers would drop to a level that you would ask if it was worth it to make them at all.

5) If more sold then we would get the turbo, convertible, targa, etc - No, no and no. If such models were planned they would already be on a secret agenda someplace and how many sold to that point would not change it. I say again that the manufactures don't just randomly decide what they are doing from year to year and they have far more qualified people to determine what will sell (in numbers that make a profit) then a bunch of random armchair marketers on a forum.

I know this will ruffle feathers and a dozen people will tell me I am wrong but after almost 30 years in the Tier 1 automotive parts manufacturing business I can assure you that this is the real world like it or not.