i'd say there are a lot of reasons that combined contribute to the continued decline in manuals.
first as Zenmervolt has posted the automatic was invented here so we sort of get a head start as far as the move towards automatics. i think most people are lazy or don't care about driving so much and driving is a chore for them so they go with the easiest option. automatics are convenient if anything. i mean i can drive manual and i have liked it on occasion but i don't own a manual car just becuase sometimes it is more difficult. i mean why get really good at say holding position on an incline in a parking structure or parallel parking on a hill when uh you dont have to. those are not the fun parts of driving manual, and well its a tradeoff that most people are not willing to make for everyday driving.
if i had the space / money i'd DEFINITELY buy a second car that was a manual.
now one thing that contributes to the faster decline of it is that no one has a manual now to begin with in cities. i grew up in Los Angeles. Probably one of the most congested cities on earth. Now for the people who say its not that hard to drive in traffic in manual vs automatic, it probably really isnt. but its more tedious and it is annoying. As such given enough time most people in LA do not have a manual. then most children do not have a manual to learn on. I've got friends from other states and if anything they were exposed to manual a lot earlier. so anyway this causes the effect to snowball.
in the UK if its really 85% manual well, most people will learn on a manual since most cars are manual, so the "there wasnt a manual around" reason wont be there. they'll be used to it anyway , and just be comfortable.
like i don't think i'd ever argue that manual was less fun during the fun parts of driving (i.e. no traffic, curvy road, etc), but you take the whole package and have to use it for all the other parts of driving (commuting) and for most people the trade isnt worth it.
other factors i figure that contribute are that its not cheaper, and tends to get worse mpg now. it used to be cheaper and still is on economy cars. but on the type of cars i'd want to get it on, first off its impossible to find at a dealership and secondly its more expensive. ona bmw its a no cost option. on acuras that have it, its a no cost option. on an infiniti they actually charge you more. audi its actually still cheaper. mercedes sells a grand total of 1 manual car. etc
on top of that to get the published mpg rating which is almost always lower now given autos have 7 / 8 speeds in most nicer cars these days, you would have to constantly be rowing up to 6th gear and driving a car like a grandma. which isn't fun anyway. so it almost never gets better mpg now.
and this is just on cars that are actually fun to drive.
im not sure i'd even bother if i was driving some appliance to even think about a manual option. the funness would definitely be outweighed by the tediousness in traffic etc in LA anyway. thats probably the reason they stopped making manual camrys
first as Zenmervolt has posted the automatic was invented here so we sort of get a head start as far as the move towards automatics. i think most people are lazy or don't care about driving so much and driving is a chore for them so they go with the easiest option. automatics are convenient if anything. i mean i can drive manual and i have liked it on occasion but i don't own a manual car just becuase sometimes it is more difficult. i mean why get really good at say holding position on an incline in a parking structure or parallel parking on a hill when uh you dont have to. those are not the fun parts of driving manual, and well its a tradeoff that most people are not willing to make for everyday driving.
if i had the space / money i'd DEFINITELY buy a second car that was a manual.
now one thing that contributes to the faster decline of it is that no one has a manual now to begin with in cities. i grew up in Los Angeles. Probably one of the most congested cities on earth. Now for the people who say its not that hard to drive in traffic in manual vs automatic, it probably really isnt. but its more tedious and it is annoying. As such given enough time most people in LA do not have a manual. then most children do not have a manual to learn on. I've got friends from other states and if anything they were exposed to manual a lot earlier. so anyway this causes the effect to snowball.
in the UK if its really 85% manual well, most people will learn on a manual since most cars are manual, so the "there wasnt a manual around" reason wont be there. they'll be used to it anyway , and just be comfortable.
like i don't think i'd ever argue that manual was less fun during the fun parts of driving (i.e. no traffic, curvy road, etc), but you take the whole package and have to use it for all the other parts of driving (commuting) and for most people the trade isnt worth it.
other factors i figure that contribute are that its not cheaper, and tends to get worse mpg now. it used to be cheaper and still is on economy cars. but on the type of cars i'd want to get it on, first off its impossible to find at a dealership and secondly its more expensive. ona bmw its a no cost option. on acuras that have it, its a no cost option. on an infiniti they actually charge you more. audi its actually still cheaper. mercedes sells a grand total of 1 manual car. etc
on top of that to get the published mpg rating which is almost always lower now given autos have 7 / 8 speeds in most nicer cars these days, you would have to constantly be rowing up to 6th gear and driving a car like a grandma. which isn't fun anyway. so it almost never gets better mpg now.
and this is just on cars that are actually fun to drive.
im not sure i'd even bother if i was driving some appliance to even think about a manual option. the funness would definitely be outweighed by the tediousness in traffic etc in LA anyway. thats probably the reason they stopped making manual camrys
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