Last year, we reported on an uptick of sales — proportionally speaking — of manual transmissions among new vehicles. And while there have been some bright spots in the automotive world, more recent data suggests that stick shift enthusiasts waiting for a revival of their transmission of choice shouldn’t hold their breath.
In the EPA’s 2024 Automotive Trends Report, one of the running themes was the relative decline in manual transmissions. The report notes that stick shifts “were included in almost 35% of new vehicles in model year 1980,” but that this figure has dropped in the years between then and now. Manual transmissions “have been below 1% of all production since model year 2021.”
The reasons behind that don’t have to do with drivers learning how to drive a stick shift. Instead, the issue at hand is one of engineering: while manual transmissions were once more efficient than their automatic counterparts, technological advances have closed that gap.
As Lewin Day at The Autopian points out, the EPA’s annual report has a slightly different set of data than some other industry reports that have been released in recent years. Day makes a convincing argument that the EPA’s data is likely the most comprehensive, however — and it indicates a relatively small market for manual transmission vehicles.
New Lawsuit Targets Ford’s 10-Speed Automatic Transmission
The suit cites a number of vehicles released since 2017That doesn’t mean that manual transmissions won’t stick around. One percent of all automobiles produced in a given year is still a substantial number, after all. And you don’t have to look too far to find enthusiasts making the case for the superiority of manual transmissions. But as of 2024, plenty of drivers have made their minds up in the opposite direction.
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