Quote:
Originally Posted by mkoesel
It actually does address the question of whether enthusiasts are buying vehicles with automatic transmissions. If they were not, then sales of vehicles equipped with manual transmissions would not be in such decline....
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I'd argue it's not the whole story. We're looking at a kind of feedback loop. While it's true that some enthusiasts are choosing to no longer buy manuals (e.g., because manuals shift slower), it's also true that others may still prefer manuals but unfortunately the car they want isn't offered with a manual, so they are "forced" to buy automatics.
Marketing then sees this data point as more people choosing automatics (even though that may not be the case) and then they offer less models with manuals, giving potential manual buyers even less choice, and so on. Accelerating this loop, new drivers are less likely to drive manuals because less choice of models with available manuals. So the age of manual drivers are getting older.
So an answer to the OP's question "Will this [choosing manuals] continue to be the case for years to come?", I would say, yes, this will continue for years to come, but these die-hard enthusiasts will have no choice but to go to the used car market. And eventually the aforementioned older drivers will just die out and manual cars finally extinct.