Photo: Volkswagen
For many years, people believed the manual transmission was on its way out, although it stubbornly resisted. Now, its time might have finally come, as shown by a recent decision by SAIC-Volkswagen in China.
Automatic transmissions are ubiquitous in North America, but in Europe and other regions, the stick-shift transmission remained popular. Despite their convenience, automatics are still much more expensive than their manual counterparts. In markets where cheaper, smaller vehicles are the norm, this matters. You wouldn’t want to sell a $10,000 car with a $2,000 transmission, nobody would pay the difference.
Even so, many brands gradually gave up on the manual transmission, starting with the premium carmakers. In some parts of the world, the U.S. included, buying a manual transmission vehicle is almost impossible unless it’s an exotic, enthusiast car. Now, there are even more incentives to drop the stick shift completely. Considering that electric vehicles have no gears to shift and almost all hybrids feature an automatic, the time to pull the plug on the manual transmission has finally arrived.
It became obvious at Volkswagen’s joint venture with SAIC in China, where most sales are for so-called “new-energy vehicles” (NEV). This means all cars with a plug, be they battery-electric or plug-in hybrids. According to the China news outlet Autohome, SAIC-Volkswagen sent a letter to employees at its transmission plant in Shanghai, warning them of imminent layoffs. The production of manual transmissions at the plant will stop at the end of March next year, followed by the plant closing down and asset liquidation.
SAIC-Volkswagen already builds a very limited number of models that use manual transmission, including the Volkswagen Santana, Lavida, and Polo. The joint venture also incorporates Audi and Skoda operations, and the latter is likely to be impacted. We don’t know how many manual-transmission vehicles SAIC-Volkswagen sells in China, but we get that there aren’t many.
This is a clear indication of times to come, not only in China but in Europe and other parts of the world. Those who insist on driving stick would probably have to opt for a more expensive, enthusiast version like the Golf GTI, which will still be offered with a manual transmission. For the rest, paying more for an automatic would be the only option. That is until combustion engines are banned altogether in the not-so-distant future.
Even so, many brands gradually gave up on the manual transmission, starting with the premium carmakers. In some parts of the world, the U.S. included, buying a manual transmission vehicle is almost impossible unless it’s an exotic, enthusiast car. Now, there are even more incentives to drop the stick shift completely. Considering that electric vehicles have no gears to shift and almost all hybrids feature an automatic, the time to pull the plug on the manual transmission has finally arrived.
It became obvious at Volkswagen’s joint venture with SAIC in China, where most sales are for so-called “new-energy vehicles” (NEV). This means all cars with a plug, be they battery-electric or plug-in hybrids. According to the China news outlet Autohome, SAIC-Volkswagen sent a letter to employees at its transmission plant in Shanghai, warning them of imminent layoffs. The production of manual transmissions at the plant will stop at the end of March next year, followed by the plant closing down and asset liquidation.
SAIC-Volkswagen already builds a very limited number of models that use manual transmission, including the Volkswagen Santana, Lavida, and Polo. The joint venture also incorporates Audi and Skoda operations, and the latter is likely to be impacted. We don’t know how many manual-transmission vehicles SAIC-Volkswagen sells in China, but we get that there aren’t many.
This is a clear indication of times to come, not only in China but in Europe and other parts of the world. Those who insist on driving stick would probably have to opt for a more expensive, enthusiast version like the Golf GTI, which will still be offered with a manual transmission. For the rest, paying more for an automatic would be the only option. That is until combustion engines are banned altogether in the not-so-distant future.
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