O'Rattlecan
Redneck Prognosticator
You are entitled to your opinion just as I am. Can you then give me good explanation as to why all manufacturers are leaning towards automatics?...last time I checked, manufacturers tend to go with the less overall expensive route.
Edit....just to clarify....I'm referring to our trucks and larger.
Well... let's be a bunch of economists. Yes AND no.
Autos are all that's selling, plain and simple. You look at the sales numbers and the story tells itself.
A manual transmission is cheaper to design (in total dollars) and maintain (assuming mass production) ignoring regulatory costs that Ernie was talking about.
The real world, though, shows that design & R&D costs have to be distributed over the number of units sold and marginal costs for this are higher on a manual (in relation to their very low sales). The cost of maintenance will still be lower as long as the parts don't become too scarce. But the regulatory costs are still there to be wrastled with....
It's much easier to justify an automatic from a manufacturing standpoint, especially considering market demands.
Ryan
edit: I think you were asking rhetorically duncan but I thought I'd flesh it out the way I see it from my cranium.