Once the affordable option for new car buyers, manuals are now rare to find outside of high-value performance vehicles, as more motorists opt for easier - and increasingly efficient - automatics.
The rise of the electric vehicle has also put the manual’s revival on the backburner, with the convenience of using battery power to get from A to B with minimal input appealing to the buying public.
While car enthusiasts bemoan the manual fading away, Tyrone Johnson, the head of the Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Centre (HMETC), told the UK’s Car magazine there is little demand for three-pedal vehicles, or those with any type of analogue driving inputs.
“Nobody wants manual gearboxes and handbrakes any more, or analogue instruments - our combustion cars and EVs have very similar interfaces,” Johnson said.
The executive - who previously worked for Ford for three decades, which included stints with the Stewart and Jaguar Formula 1 teams - doubled down on his love for EVs, claiming petrol cars can’t beat them for performance.
“I’m a performance guy. I did the first Mustang Shelby [the 1992 SVT Mustang]. I don’t understand the idea that performance cars are dying,” Johnson added.
“If you want to go fast, there’s nothing better than an EV. I don’t understand the nostalgia.
“I can understand that some people want to have the sounds, vibrations, things like that. Those sensory inputs help the human brain understand what’s going on in a car.”
Since joining the HMETC in 2018, Hyundai has ramped up its N performance division, with its flagship model being the electric Ioniq 5 N. Despite being an EV, it has features which can create artificial engine sounds, and even mimic gearshifts.
However, at least in the latter case, Johnson said its success and praise from critics was born out of its synthesised gearshifts being based on a dual-clutch automatic, rather than a manual.
Likewise, Johnson called petrol-powered performance cars “miles away - a disappointment” in comparison to the Ioniq 5 N.
It’s worth noting that despite the overseas criticisms, Australia’s cheapest performance car with a manual transmission is the Hyundai i20. You can also buy a manual version of the i30 N hatchback, as well as the i30 Sedan N.
