James R. Healey discussed numbers that suggest we might see a resurgence of manual cars:

• In the first quarter of 2012 manual cars were 6.5% of new cars sold. This is double what the rate has been in the past five years.
• This is all the more impressive because only 19% of the available cars had a manual gear shift as an option.
• The typical argument in favour of clutch pedal cars is that they save on fuel consumption. However that is no longer true – today’s embedded computers ensure that automatic cars are just as fuel efficient if not more so.
• Part of the appeal of manual cars is that they can be thousands of dollars cheaper.
• In certain types of cars it is easiest to get most power from a manual transmission.

To read other reasons for the rise in the sales of manual cars, including the role of habit and user-friendliness, as well as to find out what Ford’s Focus marketing manager has to say about the phenomenon, or to take a look at the expanded numbers click here.

Source: USA Today

Via: Salon