![]() 11/14/2015 at 17:50 • Filed to: None | ![]() | ![]() |
Manual take-rates are 75% in the U.S. The population in general are die hard in the pocket of manual transmissions. but...
...Toyota has a fully enforceable patent on manual transmission technology in the US, and they leverage it against the public fondness of the manual to ensure monopolistic control of one specific segment of the US auto market. That’s right; if you want three pedals in this universe, your only option is a Camry.
Do you push the button?
![]() 11/14/2015 at 17:52 |
|
Nope.
#ComeAtMeOppo
![]() 11/14/2015 at 17:53 |
|
No.
![]() 11/14/2015 at 17:53 |
|
Yeah. The Camry is awesome, and a sporty manual version would be even better :)
Camry XRS, ES-F, LS-F, CT-F hell yeah
![]() 11/14/2015 at 17:54 |
|
I spend my vast fortune having the patent invalidated and then buy the manual car I want.
![]() 11/14/2015 at 17:56 |
|
I think it would just be cheaper to have whoever is running Toyota in this scenario assassinated. You might not go to prison if you and your ‘associates’ are careful about the hit, and someone less...evil might take over and change things.
![]() 11/14/2015 at 17:56 |
|
No, why should I care if my fellow countrymen drive a manual?
![]() 11/14/2015 at 18:00 |
|
Nope. Doesn't matter at all to me what other people drive, so pushing that button does nothing for me.
![]() 11/14/2015 at 18:14 |
|
Nah, while in litigation I ensnare their executives in a series of prostitution scandals there by driving the share prices down due to low consumer confidence. Once done I buy up a controlling stake in the company, fire everyone, burn down the headquarters and salt the earth so nothing can grow there.
I now use my control of the patent to let only trucks, wagons and RWD 2 door sports cars be produced with manual’s. Minivan’s and Prius production is immediately halted.
![]() 11/14/2015 at 18:14 |
|
I thought a V6 Camry Solara (First Gen.) with a stick was fun, soooo....
#DearGodI’mSorryOppo
![]() 11/14/2015 at 18:15 |
|
at least 75% of all cars being a camry? hmmm... no.
although one of these with a stick would be a good DD.
![]() 11/14/2015 at 18:24 |
|
No, I buy what I want and then assemble some renegade mechanic friends and we convert it to manual.
![]() 11/14/2015 at 18:30 |
|
Step one: press button
Step two: file anti-trust suit.
![]() 11/14/2015 at 18:33 |
|
Yes. I’d get a Camry V6, then raid the 400hp supercharger from a Lotus Evora.
![]() 11/14/2015 at 18:38 |
|
Your car breaks down
Borrow friend’s Camry to go grocery shopping
Park car in lot full of Camrys
Walk home because it blended in so well you never found it again
![]() 11/14/2015 at 18:39 |
|
simple. in this universe I am a very rich man with powerful friends. I bribe off the 2nd in command at Toyota, and then have the board vote the current chief off. with that, my guy would release the patent, allowing for manual sales to grow.
meanwhile, the old boss dies choking on a peanut. on his boat. with no evidence.
![]() 11/14/2015 at 18:39 |
|
T O R Q U E S T E E R B O Y S!
![]() 11/14/2015 at 19:00 |
|
Wait, wait. How can Toyota have a patent on manual transmissions?
![]() 11/14/2015 at 19:02 |
|
They don’t, unless you push the button.
![]() 11/14/2015 at 19:09 |
|
So, in this world, the only interesting cars are only available with an automatic. Meaning that the automatic is now the enthusiast’s choice. Probably there is a Bizarro Oppositelock in this world where people post derisive comments about how slow manuals are to shift and how they miss shifts and are inconsistent and how only true drivers use the technologically superior automatic transmission.
![]() 11/14/2015 at 19:39 |
|
dat iDrive controller tho
![]() 11/14/2015 at 19:50 |
|
The Toyotas with manuals my family has owned got awesome fuel mileage, I’d mash that button without second guessing it.
![]() 11/14/2015 at 20:00 |
|
Considering the current V6 automatic goes from 0-60 in 5.8, hell yeah, sign me up! Manual XSE V6 FTW!