Few entry level cars are coming with manual transmissions anymore. So if you don't start by driving a MT, odds are you won't aspire to own one in future cars.

As for the enthusiast market... it's all about marketing, and today's AT's are faster.

 

I blame the Dual Clutch Systems in AT... I hate that their shifts are smoother quicker, and more fuel efficient.... Ehh hate those engineers, making thing better and what not!

-G sedan Family =

 

i'll be touring Ireland this summer on vacation. while there, i've lined up either a 3-series or A4 to bomb around the country roads. whichever it ends up being, it is a manual gearbox. autos are much harder to find, and may be more expensive due to limited availability. same thing when i was in Spain/Portugal and Chile a few years. all rental cars were manuals. autos were either not available or were much more expensive.

in N.A. you'd be hard pressed to find a manual rental car. so as someone above posted, the slow death of manuals seems to be a N.A.-centric epidemic. europe has some nasty commutes as well and plenty of stop and go, so i'm not sure if that argument holds up. i blame the decay of society and laziness over here (lol!). as we cling to more and more technological aides and enabling niceties we lose our ability or drive to perform work ourselves. let someone/something else do the work rather than train in a learned skill.

 

^^You may be right. I suppose it all boils down to driving style and preference. Even when i'm driving our slushbox cvt car (accord) in heavy traffic, I still keep good following distance. It's less effort that way. Probably carryover from my motorcycling days where the clutch and throttle are both operated by hand.