Is there still room on the road for manual transmissions?

According to Wikipedia, the first automatic transmission, "the … Sturtevant ‘horseless carriage gearbox,’” was designed in 1904. But it wasn't until 1939 that General Motors introduced its Hydramatic transmission. And it was a few years after that before automatic transmissions were widely available in vehicles purchased by the general public.

Since that time, the automatics have taken over American roads.

According to the April 7, 2016, issue of ‘The Zebra’ for comparing insurance quotes, only “3.9 percent of cars sold in (the) U.S. were built with manual transmissions.” But, back in 1986, of “vehicles on American roads" 29 percent had manual transmissions.

The popularity of the automatic transmission, however, never really caught on overseas. As of the time that ‘The Zebra’ article was written (2016), 80 percent of the cars sold in Europe and Japan still had manual transmissions. Do they know something we don’t? Probably not.

For years, manual transmissions were considered better on fuel economy. Advancements in automatic transmissions have narrowed the gap. Still, Consumer Reports rates manual transmissions as providing 2 to 5 mpg better mileage than automatics. That's a significant check in the manual transmission column. But is it decisive?

For those who want superior performance in a vehicle, manual transmissions were long considered the king of the road. But improvements in automatic transmissions have closed that gap. Among drag racers, automatics are generally considered superior to manual transmissions when it comes to shaving time off the elapsed time in a quarter or eighth mile. That check mark probably fits in the automatic column.

One area where the manual has consistently held the title is in terms of price. When purchasing a vehicle, Consumer Reports indicates that you can save $8,000 to $12,000 if you opt for a manual transmission over a manual. Our research has not seen that large of a variance, however. For instance, we checked on the difference in cost for a 2020 Mustang and found that the 10-speed SelectShift Automatic Transmission only cost $1,595 more than the standard equipment 6-Speed Manual Transmission. Still, that is a significant savings.

So what's the final verdict? Is there still room on American roads. What it probably comes down to is that some people simply prefer a manual transmission, people who look forward to driving as something more than just getting from here to there. Many don't want to be bothered with coordinating the shifter and clutch. They want to get in and go from Point A to Point B with as little work as possible. It's possible that the prior group may have the same response to automatic/driverless cars. They enjoy the drive and aren't looking for the car to take over.

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