The end of manual cars in the UK?
The number of manual cars sold in the UK has been decreasing year over year, automatic sales have spiked massively over the last three years. In the first 9 months of 2020, we bought more cars with automatic gearboxes than manual gearboxes for the first time.
In October 2020 Mercedes-Benzes announced that as part of a cost-cutting initiative they would stop producing manual gearboxes altogether. According to a spokesperson for the company, they would be phasing out manual gearboxes between now and 2030, which coincides with the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles. The petrol and diesel ban will mean a lot of manufacturers will be following suit as electric/hybrid vehicles come with automatic gearboxes.
High-end manufacturers such as Ferrari and Porsche have been phasing out the manual option for years. Premium manufacturer Volvo sold only 10% of its cars with a manual gearbox up to September 2020.
Manual gearboxes are often the choice for sports cars and supercars, but they are losing ground here too. BMW will no longer offer a Manual version of their new M4 Coupe in the UK. Lamborghini stopped manufacturing Manual cars in 2014 with the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-2.
This is a trend we are seeing not only with experienced drivers but learning drivers too. Last year from the whopping 1.6 million tests administered, 202,506 (12.7%) were taken in automatic. This may not seem like a lot but it is an increase of more than 90% from only 5 years ago, an astonishing reversal from Britain- a country where the ethos for decades was that ‘real drivers don’t use automatics’
However, manuals will still be around for a good number of years yet, whilst only offering a manual gearbox in 5 cars 75% of Audi’s sales in 2020 had been manual cars. Manuals will survive longer in budget cars, due to the lower production costs, Fords Fiesta was the best-selling manual in the first 9 months of 2020 followed by Vauxhall’s Corsa.