Ferrari claims the manual tranny is over. AMG had it right all along?
06-15-2010, 09:12 AM
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95 E300D, 97 FZJ-80
This was in 2006.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=5487437
American car buyers are showing more interest in fuel economy these days. Sales of gas guzzling vehicles have softened, while demand for more economical cars is on the rise.
But even with gasoline prices around $3 a gallon, Americans continue to shift away from fuel-saving manual transmissions. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.
SCOTT HORSLEY reporting:
A car with a stick shift typically goes five to ten percent farther on a gallon of gasoline than a comparable automatic. But most new car buyers wouldn't touch a manual transmission.
Vice President David Garfield of the consulting firm GFK Automotive says manual transmissions have long since fallen out of favor with Americans, and pricey gasoline has done nothing to change that.
Mr. DAVID GARFIELD (Vice President, GFK Automotive): If you went back to 2003 when gasoline was about $1 a gallon, 17 percent of car buyers said that their next vehicle would come with a manual transmission. And that has actually gone down this year to about 15 percent. In almost every segment, the anticipated take rate for manual transmissions has declined.
HORSLEY: Garfield says improvements to automatic transmissions have whittled away at the gas saving advantage of a manual. There's also been a startling erosion in Americans' driving know-how.
Mr. GARFIELD: I know my kids have never learned how to drive a manual transmission. If they sat in the car with a manual, they wouldn't know what to do with it.
HORSLEY: Indeed, United Driving School in San Diego no longer even offers lessons in driving a stick shift because so few students are interested. School director Bonnie Trowne(ph) says teenagers who've grown up letting a computer check their spelling think nothing of driving a car that shifts gears on its own.
But even with gasoline prices around $3 a gallon, Americans continue to shift away from fuel-saving manual transmissions. NPR's Scott Horsley reports.
SCOTT HORSLEY reporting:
A car with a stick shift typically goes five to ten percent farther on a gallon of gasoline than a comparable automatic. But most new car buyers wouldn't touch a manual transmission.
Vice President David Garfield of the consulting firm GFK Automotive says manual transmissions have long since fallen out of favor with Americans, and pricey gasoline has done nothing to change that.
Mr. DAVID GARFIELD (Vice President, GFK Automotive): If you went back to 2003 when gasoline was about $1 a gallon, 17 percent of car buyers said that their next vehicle would come with a manual transmission. And that has actually gone down this year to about 15 percent. In almost every segment, the anticipated take rate for manual transmissions has declined.
HORSLEY: Garfield says improvements to automatic transmissions have whittled away at the gas saving advantage of a manual. There's also been a startling erosion in Americans' driving know-how.
Mr. GARFIELD: I know my kids have never learned how to drive a manual transmission. If they sat in the car with a manual, they wouldn't know what to do with it.
HORSLEY: Indeed, United Driving School in San Diego no longer even offers lessons in driving a stick shift because so few students are interested. School director Bonnie Trowne(ph) says teenagers who've grown up letting a computer check their spelling think nothing of driving a car that shifts gears on its own.
