Manual transmissions used to be cheaper and more efficient than automatics, and they were available on just about every vehicle on the market. Times changed, though, and technology moved on. Automatics became the default as consumers at large decided they no longer wanted to row their own. Today, the manual transmission lives on as a rarity, selected only by an enthusiastic few.
While the calendar just ticked over to the new year, automakers technically started building 2025 models some time ago. In any case, as we enter a new year, it’s worth reflecting on which models persist with this ancient, beloved technology.
Sadly, the list dwindles to ever fewer, with a number of models leaving three pedals behind this year. No surprise, given that manuals now make up less than 1% of new car sales in America. As it stands, there are just 27 manual models remaining on sale in 2025.
What We’re Losing This Year
Before we get into the models that are still available, it’s worth looking at those that dropped manual transmissions for 2025. Many automakers have been trimming the fat on their lineups, and weak-selling manual options have been an easy target for cost savings.
The Jeep Gladiator will no longer offer a manual option in 2025, as we’ve covered previously. “The 2025 Jeep Gladiator will exclusively feature a high-tech eight-speed automatic transmission to maximize the best-in-class V6 towing and payload capability demanded by our mid-size truck customers,” Jeep stated late last year. “This configuration is chosen by most Gladiator owners today, and best matches the specific capability and expectations customers tell us they want in an open-air Jeep pickup truck.”
The Chevrolet Camaro is another victim, albeit in part because the model was killed as a whole after the 2024 model year. It’s the same story for the Kia Forte GT, which has been replaced with the CVT-only Kia K4. Honda has also cut the six-speed manual from the Civic hatch, too, though it will remain on higher-end sports models like the Si and Type R. The Mini Cooper will no longer come with a stick either, with the company citing emissions regulations and low demand. However, the US arm of Mini hopes to potentially revisit the option in future.
Sadly, despite practically inventing the hot hatch, Volkswagen will no longer offer manual transmissions on the Golf GTI or Golf R for 2025. Interestingly, this wasn’t down to take rates in America—Volkswagen told us that manuals made up 40% of Golf R sales, and an even more impressive 50% for the Golf GTI. Sadly, though, other markets weren’t as keen, and it didn’t make sense for VW to keep the stick shift around when demand was so little around the world. The model bowed out with the GTI380 special edition in 2024.
Manuals We Still Get
Manual transmissions used to be the budget option, but now they’re almost entirely absent from affordable vehicles. The one exception is the venerable Nissan Versa, which continues to offer a five-speed manual gearbox alongside the more popular CVT option. It’s the last of its kind, though, ever since the Mitsubishi Mirage dropped its manual options in 2023.
The vast majority of manuals out there feature six speeds instead. All the best domestic examples come from the muscle car world—think the Ford Mustang and the Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing.
Despite the cheapest cars largely dropping manuals, there are still a wide variety of compacts with three pedals, too. Acura will do you an Integra A-Spec or Type S with a stick if so desired. As previously stated, the basic Honda Civic no longer comes with a six-speed option, but the Civic Si and Type R maintain the option as is the natural order of things. The Hyundai Elantra N similarly gets a six-speed box as a hot compact should, and weirdly, so does the Mazda 3—albeit for five-door Premium models only. If your tastes are more Germanic, though, you can always consider the VW Jetta GLI.
As for sports cars, naturally, the Mazda MX-5 Miata also gets a six-speed box, along with the Nissan Z, the Subaru BRZ, and the WRX. Porsche has also kept the manual offering alive for the 718 Cayman and Boxster, as well as the 911. Interestingly, the current model 911 now features a six-speed box on the Carrera T and GT3, with the oddball 7-speed now apparently a thing of the past. The Lotus Emira will also continue to offer six speeds for your shifting delight.
BMW and Toyota should be celebrated for having the most manual models on offer. BMW has six speeds for the M2, M3, M4 and Z4. Toyota also rocks six-speed options for all its performance models—the GR Corolla, the GR86, and the Supra as well. Meanwhile, dealers boast that the Toyota Tacoma is the only manual pickup truck still on sale in America, now that the Gladiator manual is no more.
Beyond the Tacoma, the Jeep Wrangler is the other main rugged off-road vehicle with a six-speed manual gearbox. We should also tip our hat to the Ford Bronco, which has a “6+1” manual transmission, with six main speeds and an ultra-low crawler gear. In reality, it’s a gearbox with seven forward speeds, something that makes it highly unique in the market today.
Add all those up, and what do you get? A total of 27 models with stick shifts on offer in 2025. Contrast that with 32 models in 2024, and you get a 15.6% decline. For clarity, my count considers different specs of the same model just once. For example, I’m counting the Civic Si and Type R as one car. However, I’m also considering the Subaru BRZ and Toyota GR86 as separate models, and the same for the Porsche Cayman and Boxster. You might disagree with my methodology; you can feel free to make your own correct count in the comments.
Overall, the stick shift landscape is mostly what you’d expect, but trending weirder. A handful of hot hatches and sports cars offer manuals, as the gods intended. At the same time, you’re still able to score one on relatively boring cars like the Mazda 3 and Nissan Versa. Meanwhile, 2025 has seen a number of classic three-pedal cars drop the manual entirely; the Mini Cooper and the Golf GTI are perhaps the most shocking on that list.
As always, my advice in this regard stays the same. If there’s a stick shift you desire, go after it. Chances are it won’t be around forever. Happy hunting.
Image credits: Porsche, Toyota, Chevrolet, Nissan, VW, Cars.com via screenshot, Jeep, Kia
I’m on the side of the automatic transmission. Hear me out. I’ve driven manual transmission cars for the last 30 years (Jesus Christ, I’m an old fart). I learned to drive in a manual transmission car and continued to drive cars with it. Company cars were almost exclusively manual too. So now, I’m in a state where I just don’t want to do it anymore. I don’t even want to grab a shifter anymore. I hate it and, with today’s technology, I don’t even see why I would need it. Most of the new automatics are insanely fast and better at shifting than I’ll ever be.
I picked up a new 2024 car with automatic (company car) and expected nothing but sluggish nonsense from it. Instead, I got an automatic which does its job seamlessly. Although I have to admit I’m using the car in a permanent performance mode, it is insanely fast, it always has the right gear, and it works in a way I thought impossible for an automatic. For example, if I take my foot off the gas, it lets the car coast while putting the gear in a position where, if I need to instantly accelerate, it’s ready with the most power the car has. It’s just impressive, and it does this all the time.
Meanwhile, I was already so tired of shifting and bored by it in traffic that most of the time I didn’t even bother unless absolutely necessary. And if you commute with a manual car and are stuck daily in traffic, it’s just pure suffering. So no, I’m not going to shed a single tear for the manual transmission. It’s time for it to die out and rest in peace.
I sort of mostly agree with you. A vehicle is a tool. It could be a tool to bring you joy on a twisty road or track, or it could be a tool to get you from A to B.
For all situations except a sports car, I want an automatic. Heck, I don’t even want gears, driving a single speed electric has shown me how nice it is to never have the delay in shifting.
But for a track car, where you are actually driving, nothing beats a manual. Yes autos are faster, but I am on track for the joy of it.
So, the rub is, as there are less and less manuals in general, there are less and less people that are capable of driving them, so there are less and less manufacturers willing to make them.
And that is sad.
My problem with the whole idea that a car is just a tool to bring you from A to B is that it has nothing to do with the transmission. This 2024 car, which I mentioned earlier, is a good example of that. It brought back the joy of driving for me because now I’m in a state where I can’t wait to sit in that car and just drive around. It doesn’t even have to be a tricky road; it’s just so good that I don’t have to put in extra work to enjoy something simple like driving.
It really brought back this excitement where I’m now, almost a year later, still talking to the car and calling it a little motherfucker with a big smile on my face. This transmission has turned this car from a tool into pure and cheap excitement and joy for me. Even those pesky traffic stop-and-go situations are not that boring anymore. And this mofo lets the engine poke into the red line constantly, which I’m really not used to doing anymore because of the fear of breaking the engine. But if this transmission does it, then it is supposed to be safe (because otherwise, it wouldn’t be allowed to do it). So I’m really back in a state that I think I last experienced in the early 2000s when I drove my Lexus IS200 with that sweet, sweet manual and smooth straight-six. That was the last time I drove around with a constant smile on my stupid face.
My point is, if the package is holistically good, everything just right, then it’s not a tool anymore. It turns the simple drive from A to B into something you can really enjoy and not bored by it.
About the track car experience, well, I can’t agree with you. I’ve driven rally cars and track cars since a young age, and of course, I started out with a pure manual. And I was arrogant about it. I was telling everyone that was the best option. And then I wondered why I was always among the last and slowest cars, even though the speed and handling of the car were nothing but good.
Luckily, if you get yourself into that community (rally, racetrack, etc.), you will find new friends. If you are not a total asshole, you will find someone who takes you in and will be your mentor and show you new ways you otherwise would never see. It happened to me too. I got into a rally car with a sequential transmission, and I learned pretty quickly why all those old farts are always way faster than me and why Colin McRae is a God. So no, manual has nothing to do with being in a race car, a rally car, or any sports car. There is a better solution that allows you to control your car but lets you concentrate on the real driving and braking (and even pushing the gas and braking at the same time), which wouldn’t be possible if you had to take care of a clutch and find the right gear while driving insanely fast.
Grabbed my manual z this year as my first ever new car to let auto makers know my thoughts
I expect to be ignored and this will also be my last new car.
Up here in Canadia-land, we can still get the 2025 Nissan Sentra with a 6-speed manual as well as the Versa!
This article sites a less than 1% take rate on row your owns. I thought I had recently read that the manual has been making a surprising comeback in the last few years. It said that the manual had gone from a decades long sales slide down to 1%, and seeing an up trend to more like 2%. It may not sounds like much but thats still double.
That said, the pragmatist in me says, the auto take over is justified. Years ago, the auto option was more expensive, slower, less efficient and less fun. All for the convenience factor. Now that’s changed. The only hold out might be the fun part.
What are people’s experiences with *selling* a manual-equipped car these days? I’m thinking of selling my one-owner 2009 Honda Fit 5-speed this year and am dreading letting people who can’t really drive stick take test drives. It’s on the original clutch, in good shape, but replacement due to a test-driver burning it out (or doing other transmission damage) would probably be 20-30% of the value of the car.
Given the other hassles with selling a car privately, this might be enough to convince me to eat some of its value and just CarMax or dealer trade it.
ive sold a couple in manual-transmission friendly colorado by stipulating that you must show up in a manual transmission car to test drive it. some people will balk, but those are the same people that’ll roast your clutch and leave you with the bill.
Anyone who already owns a manual would agree that’s a fair stipulation
I only have experience with selling my 2018 WRX a couple years ago private party. I had tons of interest but the first serious buyer who came to look at it (and I let drive it) was quite responsible (I liked that he asked if he could pay to have it inspected at a shop) and it turns out was a very competent manual driver.
While I remember them being quite fun to drive, I don’t think a Fit is going to be a target for people looking for a free joyride. Generally FB marketplace is a huge pain in the ass, but in my experience you can find the serious people by the ones that respond fairly promptly and clearly, and show up to meet you (somewhat) on time. The manual will probably attract some buyers, but if they don’t have enough manual experience to satisfy you, just offer to drive them instead.
Well damn, guess I need to take better care of my Mini JCW. Crazy to think they don’t even offer a GP option with row your own.
Frankly, I’m surprised there are even 27 cars.
Another year, another depressingly shorter list.
It’s debatable whether the efficiency part ever actually changed. Last I knew, hypermilers still prize manuals because they can get drastically better mileage than automatics. Unfortunately, because EPA testing is so flawed it doesn’t show up in the window sticker numbers so the narrative has become that manuals are less efficient.
The reason why manuals get sandbagged in EPA tests (and I looked this up) is because their is a set rpm point where the shift has to happen. By comparison, an automatic can be programmed to short-shift and thus, resulting in better in-test fuel economy.
In the real world, if you short-shift the manual the same way modern automatics do, you end up with better real world fuel economy.
I speak from first hand experience.
Yep, that is also my understanding of how the EPA tests work. It’ll never be fixed either because manuals are such a small part of the market now.
You mean right-hand experience.
Unless you drive British or JDM import! 😛
For those of us who like lists:
Glad to see the sports/sporty cars still carrying the torch, several of which are still affordable. Indeed, the loss of stuff like the manual transmission in mundane boring-mobiles troubles me less than something like the loss of the VW GTI manual.
My last stick was a 2001 Jetta TDI. It was only a 5-speed and when I moved from WA to TX, I found that it could have used one more cog. It was sold and replaced with a ’17 Accord V-6.
I test drove some gas cars with sticks back then and the rev-hang most had (for emissions reasons I assume) was such a buzz kill. I don’t know whether the models mentioned in this article have had that issue resolved, but it was just awful after the instant rpm drop in the TDI.
I just picked up a ’24 Mazda 3 manual last month for my daily driver. What a truly delightful little car. The stick/clutch are light and easy. Ride is that perfect balance between firm but not harsh. Interior feels like a luxury car. Between this and the refreshed Civic, I’m not sure why one would choose anything else in this class.
If parsh ever ditches the manual, you know the plan, folks. We ride at dawn. Grab your sharpest pitchforks and angriest shouts and meet me in Zuffenhausen. Such an injustice will not stand.
The beacons are lit!! Stef the Pef calls for aid!!