Large stick-shift in US?

Are any large American sedans available with a manual transmission?
I like my Crown Victoria, but none of them seem to!

-- Mark

Mark Carroll > writes:

> Are any large American sedans available with a manual transmission?

Nope.

> I like my Crown Victoria, but none of them seem to!

Well, the last I knew the Grand Marquis/Crown Vic sold something
between 150,000 and 200,000 units a year. If even 10% of the owners
opted for a manual, that would mean calibration and certification for
<20,000 units a year. Not really practical, since most of those buyers
could be persuaded to buy an automatic instead, i.e. not all of those
sales would be lost.

It's sad, but true: Americans really don't want manual
transmissions. At least not enough to make economic sense to cater to
them.

--
-Stephen H. Westin
Any information or opinions in this message are mine: they do not
represent the position of Cornell University or any of its sponsors.

Stephen H. Westin > writes:

> It's sad, but true: Americans really don't want manual
> transmissions.


It'd be more precise to say that Americans of the demographic
that prefers full-size sedans don't want manual transmissions.

Which shouldn't really come as any surprise. These people
tend to (note: tend to) skew toward the elderly end of the
age spectrum, and so they're of a generation that grew up
thinking of the automatic transmission as an advance, a
luxury that freed them of the chore of shifting gears.

My grandmother brought this to my attention one time, when
she expressed her incredulty that "you kids" all want stick
shifts. She said we had no idea what a big deal the auto-
matic transmission was when it started becoming common, and
was surprised that we didn't appreciate it more than we did.

There's also the fact that large sedans like the Crown Vic
and the Grand Marquis are, if not actual luxury cars in the
same vein as Lincolns and Cadillacs, at least more luxurious
than mid-level sedans like, say, Camrys and Accords. And
upmarket sedans tend to be equipped with automatic trans-
missions because automatics are considered a convenience
item.


Geoff

--
"When life hands you a lemon, pull
out a gun and start shooting."

(Geoff Miller) writes:

> Stephen H. Westin > writes:
>
> > It's sad, but true: Americans really don't want manual
> > transmissions.
>
>
> It'd be more precise to say that Americans of the demographic
> that prefers full-size sedans don't want manual transmissions.

Actually, manual transmissions are used either to decrease price or
fuel consumption of entry-level cars, or as image improvers in
performance cars. Even things like Cavaliers and Neons run 70% or more
automatics. Even among buyers of performance cars, automatics are in
the majority; when Ford offered an automatic in the Taurus SHO, it
instantly went to over 80% of the mix. Small wonder that the
next-generation SHO was an auto-only car.

> Which shouldn't really come as any surprise. These people
> tend to (note: tend to) skew toward the elderly end of the
> age spectrum, and so they're of a generation that grew up
> thinking of the automatic transmission as an advance, a
> luxury that freed them of the chore of shifting gears.
>
> My grandmother brought this to my attention one time, when
> she expressed her incredulty that "you kids" all want stick
> shifts. She said we had no idea what a big deal the auto-
> matic transmission was when it started becoming common, and
> was surprised that we didn't appreciate it more than we did.
>
> There's also the fact that large sedans like the Crown Vic
> and the Grand Marquis are, if not actual luxury cars in the
> same vein as Lincolns and Cadillacs, at least more luxurious
> than mid-level sedans like, say, Camrys and Accords. And
> upmarket sedans tend to be equipped with automatic trans-
> missions because automatics are considered a convenience
> item.

And because you don't lose many sales by not offering a manual. Market
research includes questions that go beyond "Which do you want?", to
things like, "Would you refuse to buy this car if it had an
automatic?"

I suspect that manual transmissions in BMW's and the like are there to
get good reviews from the car magazines, rather than because the
manufacturer thinks it's financially worth the bother.

--
-Stephen H. Westin
Any information or opinions in this message are mine: they do not
represent the position of Cornell University or any of its sponsors.