The internet spoke, and Toyota listened. The Toyota Supra is now finally being offered with a manual transmission after years of crying and begging by the enthusiast community, but it seems that not many of the so-called “enthusiasts” are willing to put their money where their mouth is. For shame.
Despite the clamour during the manual A90 Supra’s launch, Toyota USA still thinks that only one in four buyers will opt for the red-badged, manual transmission-equipped coupe, as revealed in an email to The Drive from Toyota North America spokesperson, Paul Hogard.
It’s certainly a sad sight, especially considering the number of purported #SaveTheManuals “enthusiasts” pleading for its existence online. But at the end of the day, we really should not be too surprised; the entire industry has already been moving towards the eradication of the MT, with many major carmakers including Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen already committed to phasing out the stick shift.
The fact that Toyota isn’t charging any extra for the manual (in the US) just makes it all that much painful. There’s literally no downside or penalties to opt for the MT, yet you people – who are always banging on your keyboards whenever a new sports car is launched without a manual option – still aren’t buying it.
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Granted, the manual transmission will not be offered on the entry-level four-cylinder Supra, but I’m sure the “enthusiasts” are already going to be looking at the 3.0-litre six-cylinder model, right?
Toyota didn’t pull these numbers out of thin air, either. In Hogard’s email, he also mentioned that the GR86 only has a manual transmission take-up rate of about 35% – far lower than what we would’ve imagined, given that almost everyone and their aunts online have been raving about it as one of the best manual sports cars you can buy right now.
We don’t have either of those cars (with a Manual transmission) here in Malaysia currently, so the blame’s not on us… yet. The GR86 is heavily rumoured to be making its way here soon, however, so for those who’ve been bemoaning online – here’s your chance to prove Toyota wrong.
