The improvement of automatic transmissions from being slushboxes to rapid-fast and efficient has led to a downturn in the number of cars being sold – or even available – with a manual transmission.
Only a small fraction of the new-car buying public is opting for a three-pedal when they can get it, while the rise of electrified vehicles has seen the basic technology become even more scarce.
However, ‘mainstream’ brands such as Porsche have kept manuals available for certain performance models thanks to a higher level of demand from customers, while other niche high-end carmakers do the same.
Speaking to Top Gear, Andy Morley – managing director of Hewland Engineering, supplier of transmissions to cars like the Pagani Utopia and Aston Martin Valour – said manual gearboxes (or H-gate transmissions, in his words) are partly being kept alive thanks to big-money projects.
“From our perspective, we’re certainly seeing a significant upshift in demand for H-gate transmissions,” Morley told Top Gear.
“Five years ago, we envisaged a future dominated by electric vehicles and predictable automatic transmissions.
“While we have already been involved in half a dozen projects to develop manual gearboxes for high-performance models, we see no signs that this trend is just a flash in the pan. There are plenty of models at the development stage.
“We are seeing a major move back to manual gearshifts among high performance marques and we think this trend will spread across to other high-performance models.
“Granted, the mass market will be increasingly dominated by EVs, but there will still be a significant element of the car buying public who enjoy the thrill of driving for pleasure – which is where the H gate transmission comes in.”
Ironically, one of the big motoring stories of the year wasn’t about an ultra-expensive hypercar getting a manual transmission, rather an affordable offering moving away from being an EV and giving buyers the chance to change their own gears.
The Fiat 500e’s poor sales led to the brand this year announcing a 500 Hybrid, adopting a six-speed manual transmission in a bid to cut costs and provide greater choice for customers.
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