The decline of the stick-shift in North America
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Bad news for those of us who like to shift our own gears when we drive. The manual transmission is becoming ever harder to find in the US and Canada. Hi there, everyone. It's Jeff, and we're going to kick off our theme for the month of March. It's cars, and we're going to talk today about the stick shift, the manual transmission.

Now every year, the list of cars with a manual transmission gets just a little bit smaller. And this year is no exception.

Why do drivers in the United States and Canada have such a strong preference for automatic cars? This is episode number 757 of Plain English here on Thursday, March 13th, 2025. If you're new to the podcast, welcome.

Welcome. This is the place to be if you're learning English and if you want to expand your horizons in your new language. We talk about different topics every week, and this month we'll be doing three or four episodes on cars, starting with today's story.

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This is episode 757, so you can find the full transcript, quiz, activities, and discussion area at plainenglish.com slash 757. How about that? plainenglish.com slash 757.

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Every year, the list gets smaller. Car and Driver magazine publishes a list of car models still available in a manual transmission to American consumers. And each year, a couple of models drop off the list.

This year's list has only 32 models. Now that may seem like a lot, but there are about 275 models of cars, trucks, and SUVs available to buy at any given time. Why are so few car models available with a manual transmission?

The reason is simple. American and Canadian drivers just don't want to shift their own gears. Back in the 1940s, a standard transmission was, well, standard. Automatics didn't hit the market until the next decade. By the late 1950s, automatics outsold manuals for the first time.

But even through the 1980s, manuals could reliably be found on the showroom floor. They were cheaper to install than automatic transmissions, so a stick shift car had a sticker price several hundred dollars less than the automatic version.

Driving a stick shift could also be more fuel efficient, and for many people, it was more fun. Over the years, though, the automatic transmissions got cheaper and better. And now, and I am sorry to have to admit this, but now the automatics are more fuel efficient and they offer better performance on the road.

They're more responsive to the driver than older transmissions were. Here are some numbers. In the early 1980s, about 35% of new cars in the United States were stick shift cars. Okay, 1980s was 35%. In the mid-1990s, that had fallen to 15%.

In 2010, just 6% had a standard transmission. And in 2020, 2%. Now listen, in 2021, 0.9% of new cars came in a stick shift.

So it went from 35% in the 1980s to 0.9% in 2021. In other words, now almost everyone wants an automatic transmission.

If car makers are making only 1 or 2% of their cars in a stick shift version, that means the standard transmission is not economical for them. They have to spend money on engineering and parts development that can't be spread out over a large number of units.

And yet, there are still enthusiasts who demand them, and demand them loudly. Some buyers want to shift their own gears on the racetrack. But many are like me. We just like the connection we feel to the car.

Shifting gears as you drive gives you a connection to the machine you're operating. It helps you stay alert and connected to the drive. So car makers continue to offer the standard transmission as an option, but there's a catch. A stick shift is now a premium option, not an economical option.

Now, you have to pay more if you want the stick shift, a reversal from the past. Here's what I mean. The Toyota Corolla is a great small car. The first car I ever bought was a Toyota Corolla.

Today, the entry-level version of the Corolla. The cheapest trim line costs about $22,000 in the United States. You can get it in a sedan or a hatchback design. But those cheaper trim lines only come in an automatic.

If you want a stick shift Corolla, you need the race car inspired Corolla GR hatchback. That's a high performance car with a price tag to match. The GR Corolla starts at $40,000, almost double the price of the entry level model.

The Honda Civic, Kia Forte, Nissan Versa, and Hyundai Elantra are also great affordable cars, but it's the same deal as the Corolla. If you want the stick shift, you need to get the high-performance trim lines, which tend to cost at least 50% more than the base models.

Those are the everyday cars. Many sports cars still proudly come in a standard transmission. The Chevy Camaro, Ford Mustang, Porsche 911, Mazda Miata, and a handful of BMWs and performance Cadillacs all proudly sport a third pedal.

But these are expensive cars for aficionados, not for the average person with kids and a 30-minute commute. The strange thing is how different drivers are around the world. The US, Canada, China, Korea, Australia, and Japan all love the automatics.

In Latin America, about 36% of new cars are stick shifts. In India, it's about 15%. Consumer tastes in Europe are changing rapidly. As recently as 2005, about 90% of new cars sold in Europe came in a manual transmission.

So just 20 years ago, 9 out of every 10 cars bought in Europe was a stick shift. But today, that number has fallen to just 32%. Now, just under a third of new cars have a manual transmission.

That's still a whole lot more than the 1 or 2% in the US, but it looks like the stick shift is fading fast in Europe too.

I said before that in 2021, only 0.9% of new cars in America had a standard transmission. That edged up to 1.7% in 2023.

Search the hashtag SaveTheManuals and you'll see plenty of enthusiasts out there. I've only bought two cars in my life. Both were stick shifts. The first one was a used four-year-old at the time, 1998 Toyota Corolla, which I drove for 12 years. Great car. And

And then the second one was a 2016 Mazda 3 hatchback. I loved it. That car was perfect in almost every way. But to get it in a stick shift, I had to be patient and I had to search. I finally found one in a different state.

So listen to this. A local car dealer had to drive up to northern Wisconsin, like five hours away, to pick it up for me. Now, most people won't go to that trouble. I don't have a car now, and I wonder if I'll ever own another manual car again.

Electric cars don't have a multi-speed transmission, and hybrids are all automatic. So, I don't know.

My dream car is the Mazda Miata. It's a two-seater, the most beautiful car on the road, in my personal opinion. It's on the list. The car and driver list of cars still available in a stick shift. So there's still hope that one day I'll get to own a Miata. It's not very practical for everyday use, but I still love it.

All right, that's all for today, Thursday, March 13th, 2025. This was the first episode in the March theme, which is cars. I've got a couple other automotive topics brewing for the next couple of weeks, so keep your eyes open for that.

This was episode number 757, so you can find the full transcript, exercises, quiz, and more at plainenglish.com slash 757. We'll be back with a new episode on Monday. See you then.

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