USA Today Say Stick Shifts Popular Again, Despite Lower Gas Mileage
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By James R. Healey
USA TODAY
Americans have a growing crush on manual transmissions. To be sure, the percentage of new vehicles with stick-shift gearboxes remains a small slice of the new vehicle market, because most of today's models don't even offer manuals.
But the first quarter this year manuals were in 6.5% of new vehicles sold, and that's getting close to double each of the past five years. It's also highest since 7.2% in 2006, according to Edmunds.com.
That high "take rate," as the industry calls it, is even more impressive because just 19% of the 2,360 different models on sale offer manuals, Edmunds.com reports. Five years ago, 29% of the 2,391 available styles did — yet only 2.9% were sold with stick shifts that year, the lowest "take rate" in a decade.
