I won't have time to regret it, I know: "who makes you do it, Gianluca", I'll say to myself, "to spark a controversy among motorists in the middle of August"? At least among those who love to "feel" the car when they drive, and for this reason love the manual gearbox.
Well, stone me, but this is all about to end. Probably when you change cars to buy a new one (or at most for a later purchase) you will not find many others similar.
The manual transmission is on the verge of extinction
If you ask in the US they won't even understand the controversy. As early as 2000, just 15% of new and used cars sold by car dealer CarMax were equipped with a manual gearbox. In 2020, this percentage dropped to 2,4%.
And electric cars, which today (at the dawn of a dramatic transition) represent over 5% of sales, practically don't even have the gearbox.
And now, a few rumors: Mercedes-Benz could give up completely manual transmission by the end of 2023, worldwide. Volkswagen will follow suit by abandoning the manual transmission by 2030, and other brands will be no exception. In those parts, in short, its extinction is practically certain and imminent.
And in the old continent? I know you are already upset, but I intend to continue.
Manual transmission, its elimination has been going on for some time
We can't say we weren't warned. For years, the decline of the manual transmission has been more or less evident. And its defenders fight strenuously to avoid its demise: those who learn to manage the entire car, on the other hand, tend to have more fun and drive better. Of course, there was also (at least until yesterday) the fact that cars with manual transmission are cheaper both in purchase and maintenance, and other small advantages.
The main appeal of the manual gearbox, however, derives from the sensation it transmits to the driver: the feeling, real or imaginary, of being in control.
It is not just a habit
Human beings have always developed tools that aid locomotion: horses, carriages, bicycles, cars. And then they extend their awareness to these tools. The driver “becomes one” with the car, the vehicle becomes a prosthesis. It goes without saying that moving it, controlling it means moving yourself. This 'fusion' is only effective when you can interpret the components of the tool you are using. The rider senses the horse's gait, the driver must 'feel' the engine torque and so on.
Modern automotive technology has begun to inhibit this sensation. Power steering, electronic fuel injection, anti-lock braking systems and, yes, automatic transmissions hinder these natural links between action and perception. And many people can no longer “get in tune with the car”.
The manual gearbox has become the object par excellence of this loss. Acting on the gearbox and clutch is a gesture full of meaning. It represents the charm of the street, with all its strengths and weaknesses. This is why the imminent disappearance of the manual gearbox is a huge cultural transition: the abandonment of a symbol, the human body working in unison with the engineered world.
A process that will accelerate in the coming years
The decoupling of humans from vehicles will accelerate in the years to come. If the automatic transmission has made the shift lever a monument to loss of control, i autonomous vehicles they aim to do the same with the steering wheel. At that point, the perspective will totally change. Passengers will move on to something else, as if they were on a train: they will read, watch TV, work, play.
It will take some time to get there. Meanwhile, the auto industry will gradually take control away from drivers just as other industries have done for other appliances, appliances and services. From the oven to the search engine, from the GPS navigator to diagnostics, automation and algorithms they reign more and more sovereigns.
This is why the manual gearbox, however marginal it is about to become in the smartphone era, remains a bastion of control. When a driver shifts gears, their intention materializes into a rewarding action, with the shifting of literal gears.
Its end will mark the farewell to an important psychological element: knowing that there is still an all in all essential and everyday device that “can be felt to work”. Its simple existence tells us that humans and machines can still communicate.
Manual transmission is a form of hope, and we will soon leave it behind.
