I just made the British girl at work spit out her water...

"Carl (@stuffcarlsays)" (carllevine)
11/06/2013 at 15:20 • Filed to: SAVETHEMANUALS

...when I told her that less than 4% of new cars sold in America are stick shift.

That is all.

DISCUSSION (25)

Mazarin > Carl (@stuffcarlsays)
11/06/2013 at 15:28

That is a hard stat

*puts on sunglasses*

...to swallow.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Carl (@stuffcarlsays)
11/06/2013 at 15:30

LESS THAN 4%?? Seriously? I.. I.. nope, as a european I can't grasp this at all... sorry..

highmodulus > Carl (@stuffcarlsays)
11/06/2013 at 15:32

And the Euro's have a lower take rate on stick, especially on nicer cars. This is why the new BMW M5 doesn't come with a stick in Europe, but does in the US.

#Merica?

MtrRider Just Wants Doritos > Mazarin
11/06/2013 at 15:34

Kinja'd!!!

desertdog5051 > Carl (@stuffcarlsays)
11/06/2013 at 15:38

80-90% of cars sold in Europe have manuals.

Makes American spit out their water

Party-vi > desertdog5051
11/06/2013 at 15:39

10% is a pretty wide margin to be unsure about. Especially since I've seen it as 75%-80% elsewhere :P

Kugelblitz > Carl (@stuffcarlsays)
11/06/2013 at 15:41

Well now you know she is a spitter.

Kinja ate this comment once. ONCE.

EL_ULY > Carl (@stuffcarlsays)
11/06/2013 at 15:42

i'll still take TEXAS over Macedonia, Greece, Romania, Spain, etc. any day.

plus, we got F1 and Hennessey \m/ :]

desertdog5051 > Party-vi
11/06/2013 at 16:06

Took a few liberties with that stat as I could find any concrete evidence.

duurtlang > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh
11/06/2013 at 16:07

It's seen as a theft deterrent in the US. It made me laugh out loud when I first read that. You can't even get a full drivers license here without knowing how (and when) to shift.

Party-vi > Carl (@stuffcarlsays)
11/06/2013 at 16:08

Americans: Eww why the fuck would you buy a manual?

Europeans: Eww why the fuck would you buy an automatic?

Gabor Vajda (@Gabor_V) > Carl (@stuffcarlsays)
11/06/2013 at 16:12

To make things clear: probably over 90% of people would be happy to drive automatic.

I mean I, a daily driver could care less about what sort of transmission is in my commuting car. But since in Europe (especially in the Eastern part) manual gearboxes are the standards, people drive manuals. That doesn't mean they wouldn't swap it for automatic ones if they a.) weren't extra sources of potential malfunction, b.) didn't make the car more expensive c.) didn't make the car more expensive to run.

To put it into perspective, saying "only 4% of Americans drive stick" is virtually the same thing as saying "less than 3% of Europeans drive V8s". There isn't any V8 in Europe (meaning in "normal" cars).

America never needed manuals and could afford V8s at the same time, because fuel prices have never been the issue (no, no fuel crisis compares to the prices in Europe). You know, I just measured: when I worked as a full-time secondary school teacher and if I had to commute 25-25 miles from/to work, I would have blown ALL my salary on fuel (Hungary, 2009). And I wasn't driving a tank. Now you decide whether my salary was low or fuel prices were high.

So I would be glad to drive a massive V8 with automatic transmission if I could afford it.

Hermann > Carl (@stuffcarlsays)
11/06/2013 at 16:22

Buying a Porsche 911 or a BMW M5
America:
- Why the Hell would you buy one with an Auto tranny? It's a Sports car!

Rest of the world:
- Did you just spend (insert 6 figure number) on a car and it doesn't even have an Automatic tranny? What a waste of money. My mom's Corsa has a manual.

maximillious > Carl (@stuffcarlsays)
11/06/2013 at 16:27

I am the 4%

duurtlang > Hermann
11/06/2013 at 16:37

What's the take rate of manuals on 911s or M5s in the US? I bet it's low, not as low as in other places, but it's most definitely not >50%.

Hermann > duurtlang
11/06/2013 at 16:44

I have absolutely no idea. I just stated this based on various conversations with non-Jalops over several years.

Mikeado > Party-vi
11/06/2013 at 17:18

80-90 sounds right for the UK at least, but I might have slightly outdated figures floating around in my head.

Mikeado > Party-vi
11/06/2013 at 17:19

Automatics are for old and rubbish drivers.

Svend > Carl (@stuffcarlsays)
11/06/2013 at 17:20

You just made a British girl at work spit out her water. Thats easy, try making her spit out her lager or any other alcoholic drink for that matter and then we'll be talking, well after she's bunched you for wasting alcohol that is.

Dr. Hoon > Carl (@stuffcarlsays)
11/06/2013 at 17:24

I am a bigtime MT lover, but I have to defend that statistic a bit. It isn't all because we're weenie 'Muricans. With our strict EPA fuel economy regulations, it makes it hard to do a MT. There is a lot of incentive for manufacturers to push AT. Even my Coyote Mustang has the inane "skip-shift" nanny to allegedly improve mileage to keep the EPA happy. Like it or not, the many-speed AT's get better mileage nowadays. And, for even the average US gearhead, AT's are better for drag racing. Heck, even the euro-exotics are all PDK's, paddle-shifters, etc. Sad, but true. As long as they just keep offering MT's for the few of us that still want them...

KirkyV > highmodulus
11/06/2013 at 17:28

It's probably true that we have a lower 'take-rate' for manuals on premium luxury cars, like an M5, but our 'take rate' - unless I'm misunderstanding the term - is far, far higher on almost everything else. I mean, the vast majority of cars here are available with an automatic; most people decide not to have one. And it's not as if we're limited by dealer availability; when buying new, Europeans always order and specify what they want. There's no financial incentive for just 'buying off the lot'.

Of course, I could be misunderstanding you.

Party-vi > Mikeado
11/06/2013 at 18:36

Barbarian772 > EL_ULY
11/06/2013 at 19:10

As an American you shouldn't be proud of F1... I mean you have Austin... We have Monza, Imola, Nürburgring, Hockenheim, Spa.... Come on

EL_ULY > Barbarian772
11/06/2013 at 21:26

We got good tracks in America. Road Atlanta, Watkins Glen, VIR, Mid Ohio, Road America, Daytona, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and many others that are rad but under the radar. Many in Europe as well all over the place. COTA was very successful last year and I have my tickets :) Texas is awsome, if we were our own country, we'd be the 14th largest economy in the world. Can't really have a giant motorsport legacy when last year was our first year of F1, come on

Barbarian772 > EL_ULY
11/07/2013 at 15:00

Of course you have great racetracks, but you don't have great tracks, F1 races on...