Cooliojones,

I believe there is not a very big market for manual trans cars out there anymore. Most Americans are lazy and would prefer not to shift so they can have a free hand to talk on cell phone, drink coffee, fiddle with radio buttons, or whatever else people do when in the car when THEY SHOULD BE DRIVING.

Unless the car is a dedicated sports/performance car or a bare bones econobox, manual trannies are just about extinct! And even in these two areas of the market, automatics probably now make up about half the sales.

Honda makes just about the easiest shifting manual and easiest to use clutch in the world. Honda has perfected this, but the world in general doesn't care (SAD, SAD for people like us).