Eventually, the manual transmission will no longer be needed, but not necessarily due to a lack of willing buyers. The reason is autonomous technologies. Self-driving cars and manuals don’t go together. Today, however, the manual gearbox continues to thrive, at least for BMW USA. Speaking to
Car Advice, BMW M chief Frank Van Meel revealed that some 50 percent of M2 buyers are opting for a clutch pedal instead of the dual-clutch option.
“Buyers vote with their wallets,” Van Meel explained. “Being an engineer I would say from a rational standpoint that even though the manual gearbox is lighter than an automated gearbox it uses more fuel and is slower, so it doesn’t really make sense.” He’s right.