Honda boss believes manuals sales will continue to decline
The market for manual-equipped vehicles is shrinking, though a US Honda executive says the brand will continue to offer three-pedal models.
The demise of the manual transmission has been protracted, and appears to now be coming to its inevitable conclusion, with only entry-level vehicles and enthusiast models continuing to offer the choice of three pedals.
Automatic transmissions are no longer expensive, slow and as cumbersome as they once were, meaning they’re now the default choice for new-car buyers, as manufacturers offer fewer manual options.
In the US, Honda – one of the few brands offering manuals in some of its more affordable cars – recently ended production of the related Honda Civic Si and Acura Integra A-Spec manuals, owing to dwindling demand.
Speaking to The Drive, American Honda vice president of automobile sales, Lance Woelfer, said the demand for manuals is continuing to shrink, but despite this, the brand will continue to make sure it’s catering to those few buyers who want one.
“It continues to be a smaller and smaller portion of the market that gets excited about the manual, and that will probably continue to shrink, honestly,” Woelfer said.
“But because they’re fun-to-drive, we can continue to have models like the Civic Si or the Integra or the Type R that offer [the manual]. But we don’t see [it] growing.
“We see very little [demand] going in, but we’re going to have them in the [assembly] line.”
Honda’s US manual lineup is effectively limited to the Civic Type R and its related Acura twin, the Integra Type S, both of which aren’t available as automatics.
While the brand launched the revolutionary CR-Z in the early 2010s, featuring a six-speed manual and hybrid powertrain, the vast majority of its products are hybrids or petrol-only models with automatic transmissions.
Last month, speaking to Road and Track, Porsche North America CEO Timo Resch said the brand is seeing demand for manuals to support its continual offering to the public well into the 2030s.
Jordan Mulach
“You can be assured that we will try to offer manual transmissions as long as we are legally allowed to, and as long as there's customer demand,” Resch said.
“And we see customer demand for the option, manual transmission also lasting well into the next decade.”
In the US, more than half of all 911 GT3s sold are manuals, while 80 per cent of GT3 Tourings are the three-pedal, suggesting drivers are looking for engagement with the car over the outright speed offered by the dual-clutch automatic transmission.
