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Originally Posted by Tcoat
Don't think the dealers, manufactuers or profits have anything to do with it.
There are still loads of manual cars sold elsewhere in the world. The bulk of the Americian public just doesn't care about MT no matter what trim level the car is. They have not cared in several decades now so why would you expect the manufacturers to build them?
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Dealers historically were incentivized to up-sell an automatic because they were more expensive. Manufacturers are incentivized to sell cars with the best gas mileage, which is currently CVTs and 9-speed automatics. Look at the cars that are offered with a manual, and chances are the cars are only offered in the base trim or lowest trim levels. This is because manuals were deemed to be for those who are budget conscious. It is also why
some countries still have a high take for manual transmissions--$1,500 extra for an automatic can be a lot.
I'm not saying there isn't less demand today than in the past; there is definitely less demand. Even if every model and every trim offered a manual transmission, the automatics would have more demand today than in the past and more demand than the manual too. Partially this is because a manual has a higher learning curve. Partially this is because the automatics have gotten so much better, and even are better than manuals from a performance perspective. Partially this is because American's commute a lot and like their autos in bumper to bumper traffic.
What I am saying is that the demand for manual transmissions is higher than the 2% of non-sports cars that get sold with a manual. What I am saying is that there are obstacles getting into a manual, so demand is higher than the take rate. See below:
https://gmauthority.com/blog/2020/12...-transmission/
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Of the men and women surveyed for the study, a whopping 66 percent knew how to drive a manual transmission, while another 55 percent say they have owned or leased a car with a manual transmission at least once before.
Interest in learning how to drive a manual transmission car is also high among those who aren’t currently capable of doing so. Of survey participants who said they did not know how to row their own gears, 40 percent said they are somewhat or very interested in learning. Interest in driving or learning how to drive a manual is also higher among those with $75,000 or more in annual household income (64 percent) and among those in the coveted 18 to 34 age demographic (62 percent).
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