It’s probably only a matter of time before the manual transmission dies off, but that day is not today. BMW buyers made that clear last year, with more than half of all M2 buyers in the U.S. choosing to go with the three-pedal option, Motor1 reports. About 20 percent of M3 and M4 buyers ordered their car with a manual, which doesn’t quite match the M2 but is still significantly higher than the take rate on a lot of other cars that still offer manual transmissions.
As Motor1 points out, though, that’s not entirely the fault of M3 and M4 buyers. BMW only offers manual transmissions on the most basic M3 and M4, so anyone who buys a Competition, CS or CSL doesn’t even have the option of picking the stick. The manual also isn’t offered on the all-wheel-drive versions of the M3 and M4. Considering how popular it’s been on the cars that do offer manual transmissions, maybe BMW should consider changing that. It probably won’t, but it’s at least worth thinking about.
After all, while BMW initially only sold the Z4 roadster with an automatic in the U.S., that’s about to change this year when a manual version finally goes on sale. Clearly, BMW’s market research showed there was enough pent-up demand to justify that decision. Otherwise, BMW wouldn’t have bothered.
While performance cars with manual transmissions appear to be popular, that’s not the case overall. Manuals accounted for less than two percent of new car purchases last year, and the vast majority of vehicles sold in the U.S. can’t even be bought with a manual even if you want one. When you’re talking about luxury crossovers and family sedans, that decision makes sense. We can’t imagine Cadillac would sell more than a handful of manual Escalades, and almost all of those would probably go to car YouTubers.
It’s only going to get worse as electric vehicles get more popular. For now, though, it’s clear that the manual sports car definitely isn’t dead. At least not yet.