Shifting the Standard of Automotive Websites
https://www.standardshift.com/forum2/
I disagree with their thoughts on fuel economy and performance, but it's still an interesting article.But the first quarter this year manuals were in 6.5% of new vehicles sold, and that's getting close to double each of the past five years. It's also highest since 7.2% in 2006, according to Edmunds.com.
That high "take rate," as the industry calls it, is even more impressive because just 19% of the 2,360 different models on sale offer manuals, Edmunds.com reports. Five years ago, 29% of the 2,391 available styles did — yet only 2.9% were sold with stick shifts that year, the lowest "take rate" in a decade.
And this:demand for manuals in the redesigned Focus compact is running close to 10%. "We were planning around 4%, 4.5%," says Paul Russell, Focus marketing manager.
In March, Ford even began offering a stick in the high-end Titanium versions of Focus, after having forecast that those higher-income Titanium buyers wanted only automatics.
Dodge marketing manager Richard Cox predicts as many as 20% of new Dart compact sedans will be sold with manuals — split between those who are price-conscious and those who believe a manual is the best way to enjoy the European underpinnings of the Dart. It's based on the Alfa Romeo Giulietta.
Is it really just lack of exposure? Do we just need to find a way to get people behind the clutch pedal and suddenly there will be a popularity boom for row-your-own?Ford says that one of every four Focus buyers comes from a household with $100,000-plus annual income. The automaker notes that those are people most likely to have traveled overseas, where manuals are much more common, thus to have rented stick-shift cars and liked them enough to want the same in their driveways.
2012 - 6.5%
2011 - 3.8%
2010 - 3.9%
2009 - 4.4%
2008 - 3.7%
2007 - 2.9%
2006 - 7.2%
2005 - 6.7%
2004 - 5.5%
2004 - 5.5%
2003 - 8.2%
2002 - 8.5%
That logic seems flawed on Ford's part. I honestly cannot believe it is just exposure that is causing people to buy them. If that was the case, people watching Fast and Furious movies would want to drive manuals. Does exposure help? Sure. But I can't believe that everyone who makes more than $100k travels overseas and consequently buys a manual.theholycow wrote:More interesting bits:And this:demand for manuals in the redesigned Focus compact is running close to 10%. "We were planning around 4%, 4.5%," says Paul Russell, Focus marketing manager.
In March, Ford even began offering a stick in the high-end Titanium versions of Focus, after having forecast that those higher-income Titanium buyers wanted only automatics.
Dodge marketing manager Richard Cox predicts as many as 20% of new Dart compact sedans will be sold with manuals — split between those who are price-conscious and those who believe a manual is the best way to enjoy the European underpinnings of the Dart. It's based on the Alfa Romeo Giulietta.Is it really just lack of exposure? Do we just need to find a way to get people behind the clutch pedal and suddenly there will be a popularity boom for row-your-own?Ford says that one of every four Focus buyers comes from a household with $100,000-plus annual income. The automaker notes that those are people most likely to have traveled overseas, where manuals are much more common, thus to have rented stick-shift cars and liked them enough to want the same in their driveways.
Yay! Pictures I don't understand! RP is back.Rope-Pusher wrote:
Hurray! The Amish have jumped the shark!
Word!Squint wrote:Yay! Pictures I don't understand! RP is back.