bkr
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From USAToday:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2012/04/stick-shift-manual-transmission-ford-focus-surprise-more-interest-------/1#.T6AgQrNDy5I
Some interesting points:
1. 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.
2. At Ford Motor, for instance, 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.
3. Dodge marketing manager Richard Cox predicts as many as 20% of new Dart compact sedans will be sold with manuals.
NOW - can Honda please offer a 6 speed manual in the redesigned Civic EX?
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according2kev
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That's good news, although it seems manuals are still becoming rare in the midsized segment. I just read on another site that the Sonata will no longer offer a manual.
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revvin
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that's interesting, there goes the 'customers only want appliances with blueteeth' idea.
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djaaronk
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Interesting indeed.
A manual transmission can make even a boring car entertaining to drive. I used to zip around in an '88 Plymouth Sundance that was a total P.O.S. but it was kinda fun cause it was a 5-speed stick. Honda makes some of the best manual transmissions out there and they should make them available on all models even if via special order.
I'd rather die in a firey bus crash than drive an automatic!
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A77
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djaaronk wrote:
Interesting indeed.
A manual transmission can make even a boring car entertaining to drive. I used to zip around in an '88 Plymouth Sundance that was a total P.O.S. but it was kinda fun cause it was a 5-speed stick. Honda makes some of the best manual transmissions out there and they should make them available on all models even if via special order.
I'd rather die in a firey bus crash than drive an automatic!
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I'd go further and say Honda make THE best manual transmissions. Sure some are better than others, and some other manufacturers here and there make good ones (Miata), but Hondas (last gen Civic 5 speed excepted) are almost always superb. Which makes it tragic that fewer and fewer Hondas come with them. When I started with Honda in 2006 Accords, Elements, Fits, CRVs, and civics were available with manuals with all engines and trims. Now in Canada only Fits are (and next to no manuals are actually available). Elements had them dropped well before the thing was phased out. CRVs - none since 2007. Accord sedan - only one 4 cyl base model. Civic - not with leather. Nice to read manuals getting more popular, but I just can't see Honda responding to this trend. So sad as they make the best ones.
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typer_801
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The MT on the Sorrento I-4 dissappeared for 2012 too. Not sure if the Santa Fe still has one available.
according2kev wrote:
That's good news, although it seems manuals are still becoming rare in the midsized segment. I just read on another site that the Sonata will no longer offer a manual.
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CR-V9
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On average, just four of the 2012 models will have manual gearboxes. Even a decade ago, just 8.5 percent of 2002 models were manuals. The paper’s own automotive reporter even confesses she never learned to drive a stick shift until it essentially became a job requirement. But everyday life for most isn’t about testing new cars on tracks or winding highways. It’s stop-and-go commuting and running errands; pretty mundane stuff by comparison. Then there’s the overachieving Nissan GT-R. It doesn’t even offer a manual gearbox, period.
http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1075508_only-1-in-25-new-cars-has-a-manual-gearbox-now-why
I'm a killjoy, Spoilsports, Grouch, Malcontent, Prophet Of Doom, Devil. And I enjoy it.
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DrWhiner
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Any truth in this???"One in four Focus buyers has a household income of more than $100,000 a year"
Q: why post it in the CR-V forum?
NOW - can Honda please offer a 6 speed manual in the redesigned Civic EX?
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Potenza
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DrWhiner wrote:
Any truth in this???"One in four Focus buyers has a household income of more than $100,000 a year"
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Age of current buyers
29 or younger: 30%
From 30-49: 36%
Gross household income (thousands)
Below $50: 31%
$50-75: 26%
$75-100: 18%
$100-150: 16%
+$200: 9%
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