For the first time ever, EV sales are outpacing sales of vehicles with manual transmissions.
According to J.D. Power, EVs accounted for 1.9% of new vehicle sales in Q3 2019, while manual transmission cars accounted for just 1.1% of the market share.
A spokesperson for J.D. Power told Car and Driver that this data excludes fleet vehicle sales in order “to focus on how true consumers are behaving in the U.S. market.”
Manual transmission vehicle sales have been in a fairly steady decline since 2015, when they accounted for 1.9% of new vehicles sold. That figure dipped to 1.5% in 2016 and hovered to 1.6% in 2017 and 2018, but with many cheaper manual transmission vehicles now being discontinued in the U.S., the market has seen a steep decline in 2019.
This is a stark contrast to EV sales, which stood at a lowly 0.3% in 2015 and rose only slightly to 0.6% in 2016 and 2017. EV sales have taken a sharp uptick in 2018 and 2019, though, jumping to 1.6% last year and then to 1.9% through the first nine months of this year.
This has a lot to do with what products are being offered by automakers. While less and less vehicles are being offered with manual transmissions, more and more EVs are coming to market. J.D. Power also notes that cheap compact cars, which once offered manual transmissions as a low-cost alternative to an optional automatic, now skip the manual altogether. Some of these cars have also been discontinued, like the Chevrolet Cruze and Ford Focus.
General Motors barely offers any manual-transmission cars at all. The C7 Corvette, which will soon be on its way out to make way for the dual-clutch-only C8 Corvette, can be ordered with a seven-speed manual transmission, while the sixth-generation Chevrolet Camaro can be ordered with a six-speed manual. The Camaro’s days are also said to be numbered, so it may not be long until there are no manual GM cars for sale whatsoever.
For now, GM’s manual offerings outnumber its EV offerings. The only fully electric GM product available right now is the Chevrolet Bolt EV – though the Chevrolet Bolt EUV crossover is expected to debut for 2020. When the C7 Corvette goes out of production before the end of the year and the Bolt EUV joins the automaker’s portfolio, it will officially have more EVs for sale than manual cars.
J.D. Power suggests that any manual transmission car fans “run to a dealership” to scoop one up before they’re all gone, and it’s hard to argue with them. It’s clear the three-pedal gearbox’s days are numbered in North America, while EV sales will likely continue to rise.
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Source: Car and Driver
Comments
maybe i’m missing something but what is the connection between the two? unless you are suggesting the decline of manual transmissions is due to EVs, what is the point?
Dear, down-vote Steve.
Think!
The connection they are trying to convey, is , “The times they are a changing.”
I’m a diehard -manual/ petrol/ great exhaust sound creature. That will never change for me.
Now, clear your mind. Relax. Understand the quiet space that will enlighten you.
Then, reevaluate you and your thought process. I have faith your soul will blossom and grow?
time is always changing. what are you trying to say?
They are saying, EV’s are selling more than the take ratio of manual transmissions. The future seems to be a dull place to be.
Boring…That’s what I’m saying.
@Zcat
I am with you as far as the sound of a great engine and exhaust. I even love the Blips of great DCTs but I have to disagree with you that driving EV’s is or has to be boring. There are Teslas in this world. More manufacturers need to do more Tesla sauce and less Bolt sauce and we will be ok. Not great as Gear Heads but ok. We will at least still have our blistering Speeds.
@Momolos
Blistering speeds are definitely not boring. But piping in fake exhaust noises, makes the whole experience seem like a battery powered toy car I received for Christmas when I was 6 years old.
I prefer the real deal.
Agree, and like the “sauce” analogy/reference! I believe more Tesla sauce is arriving- (Taycan) as well as mass market Bolt sauce to cover utility and lower income customers…eventually.
Agreed. These are two separate stories. Model 3’s stealing BMW customers was news, because that was the direct link researched. This is more along the lines of the stock market going up when ties get thinner.
Manual transmissions will probably be around for a while on sports cars that cater to sports car drivers. If there was any performance/efficiency advantage to them, F1 and IndyCar would be using them. There’s no performance advantage, but they’re a lot more engaging to drive, and that’s worth something to non-racing auto enthusiasts.
EV’s are cheap to build and very fast, and once we figure out how to miraculously produce limitless electricity without coal or nuclear, and without using materials mined and processed by human-trafficked slaves, we’re home free.
Meanwhile, a used C7 7MT is looking very good.
Can’t buy what’s not available!
How about sales outside the USA, where EV’s and Manuals are more likely to be commonplace ?
Truly a sad time to be a car enthusiast. The decline is mainly from the younger generation that wants to do as little as possible and want everything done for them by a computer or machine.
So you still crank your engine by hand? Retard ignition timing with a level? Or adjust the choke and the gas mixture with a pull knob, too? Modern vehicles will soon eliminate the gasoline engine altogether, since it was a 20th century step between the 19th century steam engine and the 21st century electric. All vehicles have computers and machines controlling them now, so just eliminate the gas engine (with all the extras), make the electric starter motor larger, and you get an EV!
You do realize that electric cars are most certainly not a 21st century invention. The first one here in the US was made in 1890! Sure it only went 14 miles per hour but it was technically electric. So no I do not see electric vehicles as this great technical leap forward that you think it is but more of an alternative to gas or hydrogen. And if your trying to put a label on me as being backward because I like to have fun or do things myself then you are totally missing the point!
Not much of a race on either side. One. Nearly dead and one barely started.
As for no manual transmissions. Much of it has to due with emissions. MFGs really are not promoting them nor planning any. Emissions are just really tough to meet with them anymore.
Small cars used to be bought as commuter cars and manuals got better mileage and were cheaper than autos. At one time you had only 2 speed autos and 3 and 4speed manuals. Still get a kick outta manual. To me it’s more fun.
You needed manuals back in the day to get small under powered cars up to speed. VW Beetles were slugs with autos in 60s
nothing will ever beat the feeling of the direct mechanical connection between the driver and the wheels. An elegant solution to a mechanical problem, and an entertaining solution at that. Yea it seems “antiquated” sure. Call it whatever you want. Doesn’t change the fact that it feels really GOOD to drive a manual and its FUN. If you never figured that out, or never tried, you missed out.
EV will be fun but it will never be the same.
And yes, riding a horse is more fun even than driving a manual transmission vehicle. And I’d much rather do that than drive.
And people still do that. And enjoy it. Just because something has been around for a long time, does not mean it is bad, or old, or antiquated, or even that its going away, at all.
Who knows, maybe in 50 years some entrepreneur will get tired of EVs all the time, and start a company producing little sports cars that run on ethanol and have a 4 speed manual, to be used as little track cars. I bet you they sell tons of them.
But sure, go ahead and say your “goodbyes” if it makes you feel “modern”.
100%
I realize the future could possibly be an automated- robotic – lazy-a*%#} place to be-whisked around in our pods. So. I agree.
A summer day. Top up, or down.
A back road, a manual tranny, a beer, And a cute girl by your side…
Yes, in that order. What’s not to love?
It’s not antiquated if you still enjoy it!