Toyota Has Problems Selling Cars with Manual Transmissions
When Toyota released its latest automatic-only Supra model, many fans of this legendary model around the world started demanding the manual option to be added. However, not everybody wonders on what it takes to promote sells of the manuals on the markets currently dominated by cars equipped with automatic transmissions. According to Toyota, it is a very risky initiative with almost no chance to succeed.
In the recent interview,
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Toyota 86
Let us have a look at some sales statistics. The
manual 86 model, offered with manual and automatic options, attracted only 33 %
of customers, therefore 2/3 of the 86 model customers still gave preference to
the 6-speed automatic version. The 86 is one of the most reasonably-priced
sports cars currently available on the market, and if 66 % of buyers still
prefer the automatic version, it gives some idea about the current demand for
manuals on the market.
Corolla 2020
Toyota also installed its latest manual gearbox
on the redesigned Corolla hatchback model. Despite the fact that the use of the
manual transmission adds to the driving experience and reduces the car price, the
majority of buyers still stick with more convenient automatic version: the
demand for the manual version did not exceed 15 %. The situation with the
Corolla sedan is even worse, as the sales of manual versions drop to less than
1%.
Learn more about the latest 2020 Toyota Yaris
The buyers of Tacoma and Yaris models also in the vast majority of cases (95 %) selected the automatic model, thereby forcing Toyota to drop the manual as an option for the 2020 Yaris model. On the basis of the above, we may reach the conclusion that it is not a carmaker who determines the selection of transmission options, but a customer who shapes the demand. However, it is hard to say with 100% certainty that manual transmissions will disappear from the market in the nearest future.
