Are manual transmission cars moving towards extinction in India?

All I saw was a sea cars with some type of automatic spilling across every segment in their own or in competing segment.

BHPian HereticHermit recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I had been whining about wanting to buy a pseudo SUV.

Today, much schooled by team bhp fraternity and mentally making up mind that I have to live with all-the-tech-that-you-can-cram-inside-console I went to Mahindra, KIA, Citroën, and Honda in quest of any car that can meet simple formula of making the driver in me happy.

1. 4 Cylinder engine,
2. Turbo petrol or turbo diesel,
3. Manual (old school stick shift) transmission,
4. Upto 1500 cc engine.
5. 4 meter plus length, under 20 lakh budget.

All I saw was a sea cars with some type of automatic spilling across every segment in their own or in competing segment. Why in world the suddenly manuals became such a rarity? I understand demand and supply rule but the put-down to manuals just accelerated so quickly is something of a modern marvel. Almost every sale guy writhed in agony that I am not into comfort of life and so ignorant about bliss of driving automatic car.

Can you point me in right direction i.e. which brand showroom I should be paying visit to next Sunday? Much as I love to buy a new, if nothing works then I might look into second hand car market but 5 point list cannot be stretched or pushed to accommodate something outside. I am not in hurry.

Here's what BHPian DCEite had to say on the matter:

If I am not wrong the Slavia/Virtus 1.5 Turbo are available with MT. These satisfies most of your criteria.

Then there is also Verna 1.5 Turbo Petrol. Honda City 1.5 NA (No Turbo though).

Manuals are not becoming rarity, but Automatics are picking up the popularity because of the ever increasing traffic, ease of driving in congested traffic. Besides, AT cars with Dual clutch automatics and Paddle shifters are also Fun to drive - case in point Slavia/Virtus/Taigun/Kushaq/Verna 1.5 etc.

Here's what BHPian SoumenD had to say on the matter:

Which car did you see that didn't have a manual transmission and only AT guise? All 20L cars I can think of has a stick shift variant priced 1-2L cheaper than their AT counterparts for obvious reasons.

All VW/Skoda 2.0 cars(Slavia, Virtus, Kushaq, taigun) have 1.5L turbo MTs under 20L. Verna turbo too is available in that budget in manual guise. Honda Elevate or City have NA 1.5L iVtec MTs. Heck, even some variants of XUV700(5 str) come with 2L MT petrol if you like them big.

Here's what BHPian IshaanIan had to say on the matter:

If you are open to used options, the S-Cross is the perfect car for you: normally aspirated 4 cylinder petrol motor and a slick shifting manual gearbox along with loads of space, solid build, slick ride quality and excellent ergonomics.

As far as new cars go, the new Honda Elevate might be as no nonsense as it gets otherwise I personally believe that the S-Cross was the last car sold in our market that did not rely on fancy features but just solid engineering it is a pity our market demanded that cars behave like the latest phones (I blame Hyundai for this) and now Maruti is selling the same car as the Grand Vitara for nearly double the money

Here's what BHPian vattyboy had to say on the matter:

All cars that you have mentioned come in Top-End Trim with Manual Transmission.

Examples-

• Creta Diesel Sx(0)/ 1.5 NA Sx(0)
• Seltos 1.5 Turbo petrol Htk+
• Honda Elevate Zx
• Mahindra Xuv 700 Ax3/ Ax5 / Ax7

Etc.

In foreign countries, the transition from MT to AT happened many years ago, in this department, India is behind them but one advantage we have today is brands are still giving us the choice of MT today.

I went to Dubai and Bali recently and drove a Honda Brio and i10 Nois there and such small-size hatchbacks were equipped with AT with no manual options available.

Advantage of AT

Better resale value- 10 years down the line when you will be in the market for the car which you bought today, It will fetch you better resale value because, after 2034 AT will normalize to such an extent that even the 2nd hand buyers will start looking for cars with an AT.

Read BHPian comments for more insights and information.