Tag Archives: Manual gearbox

Ferrari is bringing back the manual gearbox

According to Carsales, Ferrari may bring back the manual transmission after 12 years. The manual transmission will appear in exclusive limited edition models, and the last Ferrari to be equipped with a manual transmission was the Ferrari California.

In an interview with Carsales, Ferrari’s head of product development, Gianmaria Fulgenzi, hinted that Ferrari could make such a move due to strong customer interest. This will also mean the return of engines with less torque, and the first model that could be equipped with a manual gearbox will be a future model from the Icona series, which will join the current Monza SP1, Monza SP2 and Daytona SP3.

“We will soon reach the performance limit with our cars. In Formula 1, it takes 2.3 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h. With the SF90 XX, we are somewhere around 2.5 seconds or 2.4 seconds, and that’s with all-wheel drive. For an ordinary driver, such accelerations require that they are physically stronger, that is, that they have stronger neck muscles. Don’t think that all our customers want to train every morning just to be able to drive our cars,” said Fulgenzi.

Ferrari will not be the first to bring back or keep a manual transmission in its range. Porsche also recently announced that, if there is enough interest, it will offer a Carrera S with three pedals. It will be the third 911 to be offered in a combination of manual and automatic transmissions.

Source: Carsales

Hyundai stops producing manual gearbox in Czech Republic

With the development of electromobility, manual transmissions are slowly becoming a thing of the past, and only a few manufacturers offer them as an option. After recently announcing that it was discontinuing the N line (models with internal combustion engines) in favor of electric versions, Hyundai has announced that it will stop producing the manual gearbox at its factory in Nošovice, Czech Republic.

Reduced demand for Hyundai models with manual transmission was the reason for the Korean manufacturer to make this decision. As a reminder, in 2008, the share of cars with manual transmission in production reached 90 percent, while in 2023 it dropped to 24 percent. Hyundai produced more than 186,000 manual transmissions in Nošovice last year (15 percent less than in 2022). This does not mean that their use will stop completely, because Hyundai will deliver them to Europe from Asia. On the other hand, there is a growing interest in models without CO2 emissions, and this is another factor that makes the automatic transmission indispensable in sales.

The factory in Nošovice is one of the most successful foreign investments in Czech industry. In this plant, Hyundai produces the Hyundai i30, Tucson and Kona Electric models. Last year, 340,500 new cars left this factory, showing how important it is to Hyundai. About 72 percent of that figure was the Tucson model, while the i30 and Kona Electric made up 13 percent of production each, and the i30 N hot-hatch made up the remaining two percent.

Source: Hyundai

BMW will not give up the manual gearbox

Last year, Mercedes announced that they would gradually stop offering cars with manual transmission in Europe, which definitely disappointed a number of their customers. However, another German brand, BMW, has announced that it will not stop offering a manual gearbox, but will charge an extra €500 for it. It was a good business move, because according to sales data for the last 12 months, 50 percent of BMW M2 buyers opted for a manual transmission, while 20 percent of M3 and M4 buyers chose the same option.

The manual gearbox definitely loses the battle against the automatic transmission. The reason is the costs. In September, CEO at BMW M GmbH Frank van Meel said: “The vast majority of BMW cars are now offered exclusively with an automatic transmission, as few buyers are looking for a manual transmission. It would be easier if only automatic cars came off the assembly line. Instead we have a small number of customers looking for a manual transmission in the M2 series which creates additional complications and increases costs.”

“A manual gearbox is slower, results in higher fuel consumption and sometimes affects the top speed, so from an engineering point of view this type of gearbox no longer really makes sense,” said van Meel.

Also, BMW announces the imminent arrival of a new generation M5 model that will be powered by a plug-in hybrid engine. This means that the Bavarian brand will not give up the V6 engine in the near future, as AMG did.

Source: BMW