Don’t count out the manual transmission just yet. Sales of stick-shift cars are on the rise. Data shows 1.7 percent of cars sold last year were manuals—up from just 0.9 percent in 2021. And that number doesn’t seem to be going down any time soon, judging by sales of the WRX.
A whopping 83 percent of Subaru WRXs sold in America this year had a six-speed manual transmission, the automaker confirmed to Kelley Blue Book. That’s up from when Subaru shared its data from 2023, where 79 percent of WRXs sold had sticks. That means even more buyers opted to shift their own gears. Exactly what we like to hear.
Subaru
Earlier this year we asked every automaker with manual offerings how many buyers chose three pedals, and the WRX was far and away the car with the highest manual take rate. The only other cars that came close were its sibling, the rear-drive BRZ, and the multi-million dollar Pagani Utopia. And only two other cars—the Mazda MX-5 Miata and the John Cooper Works Mini—broke the 50-percent barrier. It’s worth noting, however, that not every automaker shared exact numbers with us. So there could be even more cars with high manual take rates.
That’s good news for enthusiasts like you and me. Just a few years ago, it seemed like the manual transmission would disappear from the affordable sports car segment for good. And while the stick shift is becoming rarer on cheap commuter cars and trucks, performance cars from the likes of BMW, Chevy, Subaru, and Toyota are keeping the dream alive.
As long as buyers keep showing up, the manual transmission should have a long future. Hopefully.
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