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Key Manual vs Automatic Transmission Statistics Every Driver Needs to Know (2023)

By Jason L Arthur
March 14, 2024
Fact Checked

When buying a car, there are plenty of things you need to consider:

New or used?
Which make and model?
Electric, hybrid, petrol, or diesel?
Is that metallic orange paint finish really a good idea?

But the question that provokes the strongest reaction is: manual or automatic?

If the thought of driving a stick shift fills you with dread, you may wonder why people would buy one over an automatic car. On the other hand, manual transmission enthusiasts see it as the better way to drive. Is one transmission type definitively better than the other?

Americans prefer automatics, so much so that it is rare to encounter a stick shift. But does the rest of the world share this love of automatic transmission cars?

To get under the hood of this debate, let’s start with some key facts.

10 ESSENTIAL MANUAL AND AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION STATISTICS

Manual vehicles make up 3.7% of the total registered vehicles in America. To put in numbers, there are only 7.7 million manual vehicles in America compared to 202 million automatics.
New Mexico has the highest percentage (5.65%) of manual vehicles, compared to the other states. Idaho (5.29%) and Rhode Island (5.16%) are close second and third respectively.
Illinois has the lowest percentage (2.04%) of manual vehicles.
Manuals accounted for just 1.7% of total new vehicle sales in the US in 2022. This is a significant decline from 35% in the 1980s.
In contrast, in Europe, 50% of the total cars sold in 2020 (only including the 27 EU member states and the UK) were manuals.
In China, the world’s largest automotive market, the split between manuals and automatics in 2019 was 50/50.
Automatic transmission cars held the majority global market share in 2020 (56.42%), with manuals retaining over a third of the market (37.17%).

Modern automatics are more fuel efficient than their manual counterparts.
There is no conclusive data to link accident rate with the type of transmission. It ultimately boils down to the driver’s skills.

In 2020, 41 out of the 327 new car models sold in the US (13%) offered a manual transmission.
A poll commissioned by Cadillac in 2020 confirmed that 66% of Americans know how to drive a manual car. In comparison, 97% of license holders in the UK can drive a manual car.
Automatic versions of the same car model typically carry a premium of around $1000. For example, a manual VW Golf R starts at $45,835 and the automatic version starts at $46,635.

The first automatic transmission was invented by two Brazilian engineers, Fernando Lehly Lemos, and José Braz Araripe, in 1932. They sold the prototype and intellectual property to General Motors.
In 1940, General Motors launched the Hydra-Matic, the first mass-produced, fully automatic car.

50% OF CARS SOLD IN EUROPE* ARE MANUAL TRANSMISSION CARS

*27 EU member states and the UK only

Historically, Europe has shunned the automatic car – as recently as 2018, 80% of cars sold in Europe were manuals. This reluctance made sense when early models of automatic cars were significantly more expensive than manual cars and less fuel-efficient to boot. In a region where a gallon of gasoline is almost twice as expensive as in the U.S., it did not make financial sense to pay more for a car upfront that would also cost more to run.

However, in recent years, car manufacturers have closed the gap in pricing, and automatic cars now match or even surpass manuals on fuel efficiency. As a result, the demand for automatics has grown massively. For example, in the UK, sales of automatics overtook manuals for the first time in November 2020, representing 54% of all new car sales. Despite these advances, driving a manual car is embedded into the culture in some countries. For example, in Italy, Spain, Greece, and Portugal, automatics accounted for less than 40% of new car sales in 2020 – see the below table.

Country/Region	Total new car sales 2020	% automatic
Total EU-27 + UK	11,658,884	50%
Italy	1,390,032	28%
Spain	925,908	32%
Greece	81,002	34%
Portugal	145,417	36%
Ireland	88,325	40%
EU-13	1,163,059	42%
Belgium	431,491	42%
Austria	248,740	44%
France	1,646,995	48%
UK	1,631,064	56%
Netherlands	355,595	58%
Germany	2,917,466	61%
Denmark	199,883	62%
Finland	96,487	70%
Sweden	291,821	86%
Luxembourg	45,599	93%

1.7% OF NEW CARS SOLD IN THE U.S. ARE MANUAL TRANSMISSION CARS

The first advertising campaigns for automatic cars promoted ease of use – with no gear stick or clutch to manage, driving was now a breeze. With a booming post-war economy, long roads with ever-increasing traffic, and cheap, plentiful gasoline, Americans quickly adopted this convenient new way of driving. The government also encouraged car ownership with low taxes, subsidies, and significant investment in infrastructure. As of 2022, 76% of American commuters traveled to work by car. For most Americans, driving is nothing more than a necessary and stressful chore, so the original promise of an easy drive is still the main appeal of an automatic car.

In Idaho, which Carmax identifies as the state where stick shifts are most popular, manuals only amounted to 4.2% of total sales in 2020. In 6 states (Illinois, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Delaware, and Mississippi), they represented less than 2% of total sales. With such little demand for manual transmission, it is not cost-effective for manufacturers to offer it as an option in the U.S., with many phasing it out entirely.

FUEL EFFICIENCY

Historically, manual transmission vehicles deliver slightly better fuel efficiency than automatics, with gains ranging from 2 to 5 miles per gallon. However, beginning 2016, automatics saw significant improvement in design and the introduction of more gears, resulting in better fuel economy.

Automatics released in or after 2018 tend to be more fuel efficient than the similar specs manual transmission.

DO DRIVING PURISTS PREFER MANUAL?

With no real difference in performance or price between transmission types, manual fans often talk about feeling a sense of control and connectedness to the car. The additional driver engagement required to change gears is an acquired skill and simply more fun than driving an automatic.

In the U.S., manuals are favored by a small, die-hard group of driving enthusiasts, interested in racing and off-roading, supercars, European sports cars, muscle cars, performance SUVs, and trucks; all focus on driving as an activity to be experienced and enjoyed. High-performance models such as the Dodge Challenger, Ford Mustang, and Chevrolet Camaro can all be bought as a stick shift, bucking the trend of the wider car market.

However, even within the traditionally manual sports car category, automation is taking over. Ferrari, widely known for its manual gearbox, announced in 2016 that it would no longer manufacture stick shifts. That same year, BMW dropped the stick from its M5 and M6 sports models. Lamborghini and McLaren cars are also exclusively automatic. Sports car consumers accept that a gear stick and clutch are unnecessary and also detrimental to the superior performance of these highly technological cars.

ARE AUTOMATIC CARS SAFER THAN MANUAL CARS?

There are two schools of thought on which type of car is safer. Some argue that automatics are safer because the driver has both hands on the wheel. The driver can focus on the road ahead, without the distraction of changing gears. In addition, less experienced drivers find automatics easier to manoeuver in hilly conditions, especially having to move from a dead stop. The risk of stalling the car is low, which decreases the chances of a collision.

On the other hand, other people believe that managing a gear stick and clutch makes the driver more engaged with road conditions and less likely to be distracted by eating, drinking, or using a phone.

Ultimately, studies have been inconclusive in showing whether one transmission type is safer. Driver habits, irrespective of transmission type, have a bigger influence on car safety.

CONCLUSION

Manual transmission cars are on the way out since they offer no real tangible benefit, other than a small saving on the purchase price. While some people are reluctant to give up the gear stick, the end of manuals is already on the horizon: the internal combustion engine is being retired to meet zero-emissions targets, by as early as 2030 in some countries. With the advent of electric vehicles and their single-gear systems, the concept of multi-gear transmission, automatic or manual, will become obsolete.

Sources:

Jason L Arthur

Jason Arthur is a data junkie, writer, veteran amateur racecar driver and motorsport photographer. He is the co-founder of LookupaPlate, a collaborative platform to report bad drivers plying on American roads. He is also building a blockchain-based vehicle data marketplace (in stealth mode) and is an adviser to several startups. Jason has been tracking the automotive industry since the 1990s and has a disturbingly deep obsession with the automotive world, and loves to explore whatever roads he can find. From high-speed racing on the circuit to off-road exploration, Jason has an insatiable appetite for adventure. Jason has written for numerous publications, including Autocar Magazine, Motorsport Magazine, and Road & Track.