Quote:
Originally Posted by rmay635703
They don’t offer manuals for US vehicles
(when they have an already designed drop in units overseas)
Because they would have to spend many millions of dollars on additional crash tests.
It would cost manufacturers basically zero to offer engine and transmission options that they already sell but our platform laws make it illegal and very costly to do so.
These same laws make it illegal for Toyota to glue on a 15 lb solar panel to the roof of their prime and sell it here while it’s perfectly legal to sell roof racks that carry hundreds of pounds.
At some point you have to say enough.
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Offering more transmission options is not zero cost, with or without legislation.
You have to stock spare clutches for all those manuals. Then you have to train people to replace them. That adds up to overhead costs. Limiting buyers to a single transmission option simplifies things. It's easier for a mechanic to change fluid than to change a clutch.
And then, there is the cost to the consumer. You don't need perfect control of your transmission to sit for hours in traffic. Or to wait at a stoplight. Or to drone along at the speed limit on the highway. Those of us who actually
drive are vanishingly few. Most people buy cars to commute with. Preferably with minimum fuss and effort. Leg pain is a very real problem for Asian drivers, and I've seen some completely destroy a clutch due to traffic in as little as six months.
As markets mature, more and more buyers are switching to automatics. Here in the Philippines, where we have NO intrinsic crash or emissions regulations, only a third of all consumer models offer manuals... mostly the cheaper cars... many crossovers and SUVs don't offer a stick. Being in the industry, I hang out with marketing people and product planners a lot. When the question of offering a manual variant for a new crossover or midsized sedan comes up, we laugh.
We laugh because every time someone decides to offer this option, the take rate is vanishingly low.
People with money don't buy sticks. Only skint buyers and enthusiasts like us do. And enthusiasts are more likely to buy used because they don't like new cars, anyway.
As people get more prosperous, they start to value the convenience of an auto over the savings of a manual. And the whole 'jinba ettai' ethos of being as one with your car goes out the window when you're sitting in a four hour traffic jam. Sure, switching to MT saves gas, but you don't see most people turning off their AC to save gas, either. (I do, but I'm weird)
In other Asian markets, manuals still dominate, but automatic uptake is on the rise, and automatic sales are predicted to outstrip manual sales in the future. In China, luxury cars are almost all autos. Only in the budget category do manuals rule. In Australia, autos dominate. In India, the last bastion of hairy chested balls-to-the-walls driving, MTs still dominate, but the AT segment is growing by leaps and bounds (helped in part by the popularity of cheap automated manuals).
The MT transmission is dying, by bits and pieces, around the world. America is one of the most mature markets out there, so whatever is happening in the USA, the rest of the world will eventually follow.
I'll be sad to see the stick go, but then, I was sad to see the manual choke go, too.