What can we do to promote more manual transmissions?
Every year I dread discovering which new vehicle will no longer be offered in manual transmission (RIP manual Crosstrek). And I was thinking what can the community do to help promote manual transmissions to keep them around as long as possible.
Here is what came to mind:
I’ll start with the obvious, buy a new car. Speaking with your wallet is the clearest signal to manufacturers that they are worth making.
Teach someone to drive. We all learned at some point. Most of us didn’t learn in our own car. There can be a culture of “not in my car,” as we seek to avoid the inevitable wear and tear of a new driver on our precious vehicle. One of the big reasons more manual transmission vehicles aren’t sold is because people don’t know how to drive and don’t have a good way to learn. So next time a buddy asks about learning to drive be open to teaching them.
Reach out to manufacturers and request them. More of a long shot here but it was this topic that inspired this post. If their customer inquiries are requesting manuals they may see the interest. This could be as simple as requesting them in the AI chat bots. They will have a summary feature that tells the company what are the frequent questions that customer ask. If more people requested options for manual then maybe the manufacturers will see where customer interest is.
Thoughts?
Any other ideas?
Edit: I’m seeing a lot of comments along the lines of ‘buying new is the only thing that matters’. We get it. That was first in my list. I was hoping for some additional ideas.
If a manufacturer that doesn’t offer any manuals is seen as less of a drivers brand they may want to keep at least one available.
Regulatory changes to make it easier for manufactures to offer manual transmission as an option. Like reduced crash testing for each engine/transmission offering.