You must be thinking their 4 cylinder models because they were designed by Mazda

In their 8 cyl it is reverse and the autos are actually stronger than their manuals. The only time you go manual on them is if you are diesel and towing a lot then you get a far stronger tranny anyways. But the gas pusher manuals tend to have a failure in the slave cylinder of the hydro clutch and occasionally after a while the pressure foot on them snaps. I am pretty sure they have fixed that design flaw but it still doesn't end the fast wearing clutch situation from under gearing the axle and tranny combo