One of the outlets I write for is iSeeCars.com, mostly doing reviews and occasionally doing blog posts and, as in this case, data analysis. Earlier this week, they published my writeup on manual transmission sales in vehicles sold over the past year. It might surprise some to know that overall sales of non-automated transmissions were up slightly, but more interesting is where those sales increased.
Sports cars saw a near 2 percent drop across the two periods (23.6% to 21.7%). This drop may be a surprise as sports cars are traditionally the most popular category for manual transmission options.
The biggest change, though, was in convertibles, which themselves make up only a tiny percentage of the overall automotive market. In 2014, about 9.2 percent of convertibles sold had a manual transmission. In 2015, the number was almost half that at just 4.7 percent.
But it was in coupes and hatchbacks that the real surprise came. Find more about the data in my analysis on iSeeCars.com.
