√New cars Australians buy most with manual transmissions

Manual transmissions have declined in popularity by 90 per cent over a decade – and make up less than five per cent of new motor vehicles sold. But some types of cars are keeping three pedals alive.

Manual transmissions accounted for less than 1.8 per cent of new passenger cars and SUVs sold last year – or 4.7 per cent, including utes and vans – down 90 per cent on a decade ago.

The number of new cars available with manual transmissions continues to decline, as buyers favour automatics – accelerated by the growth in popularity of hybrid and electric cars.

But in some new-car categories manual transmissions still account for more than 30 per cent of sales – and in some models account for more than half of sales.

Data supplied to Drive shows 13.5 per cent of new ‘light commercial vehicles’ (utes and vans) sold in 2022 were fitted with manual transmissions – compared with 3.9 per cent of passenger cars (hatchbacks, sedans, wagons, coupes and convertibles), and 1.1 per cent of SUVs.

More buyers of cars in the ‘sports cars under $80,000’ sales category – as classified by the car industry lobby group, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries – opt for manuals than any other market segment, at 31.8 per cent.

This class includes cars such as the Nissan Z, of which 67 per cent sold last year were manuals – alongside the Ford Mustang (21.6 per cent), Mazda MX-5 (58 per cent), Subaru BRZ (55 per cent), Toyota GR86 (46 per cent), and Mini Convertible (8.2 per cent, though the manual option has now been deleted).

Only 7.7 per cent of buyers in the dearer ‘sports cars $80,000 to $200,000’ category opted for a manual transmission – albeit from a smaller number of options – while the ratio is slimmer still in the ‘sports cars above $200,000’ class.

While there are fewer manual vehicles to choose from in these categories, demand is high for the cars that offer them, accounting for 20 per cent of the Porsche 911 and 718 sales mix last year – and up to 50 per cent of orders for the 911 GT3, and six-cylinder 718s, as previously reported by Drive.

Closely following the ‘affordable’ sports-car category is 4×2 utes, of which 25 per cent of sales last year were manuals – likely driven by cheap ‘price-leader’ models – compared to 12.6 per cent of 4×4 utes.

Manual transmissions accounted for 18.5 per cent of Toyota HiLux, 14 per cent of Nissan Navara, 11.9 per cent of Mitsubishi Triton, 9.9 per cent of LDV T60 and 9.5 per cent of Mazda BT-50 sales, plus 35 per cent of Mahindra Pik-Up utes from India, data compiled by Drive shows.

However, only four per cent of SsangYong Musso utes sold were manuals – and the new-generation Ford Ranger is not available with a manual, with only a small batch of manual examples of its new Volkswagen Amarok twin under the skin coming to Australia.

Nearly 13 per cent of ‘micro car’ buyers opted for three pedals – including the Kia Picanto (11 per cent) – while 4.7 per cent of ‘light car’ sales (such as the Kia Rio and Mini Hatch) were manuals.

In the city-SUV category, 6.7 per cent of vehicles sold featured a manual transmission – about a third of which were Suzuki Jimny four-wheel-drives.

When the current Suzuki Jimny went on sale in 2019, about 55 per cent of sales were manuals – but once the first wave of enthusiast buyers passed through showrooms, and the model gained wider appeal, the manual dropped to 20 per cent of Suzuki Jimny sales.

Hot hatchbacks remain another stronghold for manual-transmission vehicle sales – but sales have slid in recent years, as more models add the option of automatic transmissions, and the number of hot hatches available falls.

Data supplied to Drive shows in 2022 manuals accounted for 40 per cent of Suzuki Swift Sport, 39 per cent of Hyundai i30 N hatch, 20 per cent of Hyundai i30 Sedan N, 50 per cent of Subaru WRX sedan, and 59 per cent of Renault Megane RS sales.

A number of models are manual-only – the Hyundai i20 N, Toyota GR Yaris and (now-discontinued) Ford Fiesta ST pint-sized hot hatches, plus in the larger small-car class, the new-for-2023 Toyota GR Corolla, and returned Honda Civic Type R.

Vehicles that have dropped the option of a manual transmission range from the standard Toyota Corolla, Yaris and RAV4, to the Volkswagen Golf range (including the GTI and R hot hatches), and larger family cars such as the Mazda 6 and Skoda Octavia.

The Audi TT, Jaguar F-Type and BMW 2 Series (excluding the M2 flagship) sports cars are no longer available with a manual – but some new sports-car entrants, including the Nissan Z, Toyota GR Supra and Lotus Emira, are keeping the three-pedal breed alive.

As reported by Drive previously, electric passenger cars and SUVs outsold manual cars and SUVs for the first time in 2022 – but the tables flip when utes and vans are included in the tally.

The full data set split by vehicle category is included in the table below. Is there a particular car available with a manual transmission you’d like to know the sales mix data for? Ask us in the comments.

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