It is about 2.5% as of last year. But, they are still being made, as there are still people who want them. They will not disappear completely. But as the landscape goes further towards EV, there will be less of them.
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@Renegade
In my family, everyone knows how to drive manual transmission. As teenagers, our parents thought it was a smart idea that we be able to drive any sort of vehicle, so we would never be stuck or dependent on someone else to drive us home. My parents said, âI want my girls to be able to drive anythingâŠâ
And I am so glad they did that. I honestly feel that knowing how to drive a manual transmission gave me a clearer understanding of the engine, and a healthy respect for it. Also feel like I have more control over the car. That might be just me though!
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Maybe because you must be actively involved in driving the car rather than just passively sitting behind the wheel generally pointing it in the direction and pressing the âgoâ or âstopâ pedal?
Maybe the simple involvement of your right hand and left foot stimulate your brain such that you donât need to occupy it with a cellphone?
I do not agree with that . Sounds more like a Placebo effect .
I am not a cell phone while you drive type of girl. And when I first learned, cell phones were not a thing!
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Driver training cars (brand new Oldsmobiles) were, of course automatics. Practice driving in my parents car, three on the tree.
I have owned and driven both automatics and manual shift cars.
Have had problems with manuals, not wearing the clutch out, always careful, never riding the clutch. Have had linkage problems, one used a cable to operate the clutch, the tip that went to the clutch fork fell off, fortunately as I was entering the parking lot at work. CJ5, off roading, chassis flex would require pulling the clutch pedal up with my foot to fully engage.
Generally prefer automatics. One exception, if I were to get a Miata, then a stick.
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In theory, perhaps, but not necessarily in practice.
The father of one of my HS friends bought one of the late '60s Datsun sedans, and I recall riding in it on many occasions with my friend. His practice was to take the engine up to the redlineâand then continue to drive it at the redline for a minute or two before upshifting. Even if he thought that he was hot-rodding it by taking it to the redline, it was pretty bizarre to be hearing that engine screaming for far too long before he would up-shift. You could almost sense the engine being prematurely worn-out every time he drove it.
In the '80s, one of my co-workersâa woman who had driven stick-shifts since learning to drive in the late '40sâdecided to buy the new Buick version of GMâs X-car. I rode with her several times, and she consistently upshifted so early that she was constantly lugging the engine. The âpingingâ of that little engine was very sad to hear, and she may have been damaging the engine as much as my earlier friend had been with his constant red-lining. And, she was certainly not new to driving a manual transmission.
In other words, people can drive stick shifts and still be totally clueless and unconnected to what is taking place with their engine.
The aforementioned three on the tree of my parents. My father would lug the engine, upshifting too soon, not downshifting when appropriate.
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The last manual transmission car I drove was a 2021 Dodge Charger Hellcat that a dealer friend let me have over a weekend to evaluate. Loved the car, hated both the transmission and clutch. If I owned that car, Iâd need my left knee and right elbow replaced. Thatâs how difficult it was step on the clutch or change gears. Totally unsuitable for city or suburban driving. Iâve owned many vintage collectible cars over the years, but since my tastes run to late 1950âs or early '60âs cars, theyâve all been automatics. I consider a manual transmission to be as much of an anachronism as using a hand crank to start a car.
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Further proof that simply owning and driving a stick-shift car doesnât somehowâmagicallyâput one in touch with his engine.
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BRAVO! Neither my wife nor I are either.
Hands free is OK, especially when there are two of us in the car. I donât use CarPlay unless Iâm using the GPS feature on the phone. Callers can wait until I get to my destination. I only answer in the car if I know who is calling or texting and think a response is needed.
I have hands free setups in all 3 cars but we rarely use them. The google maps spoken direction feature through my carâs audio is pretty useful, is my music on my phone.
But neither of us are attached to the phones like many I see in traffic
And funnily enough, my dad said, âgirls donât need to know how to do that.â Never mind that my mother canâŠ
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Fortunately my wife never listened to her dad⊠One day she just said, I want to learn to drive that and she drove manuals until her knee said âno more!â
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Well, dopes drive manuals too. Or at least, they did. 
I had a neighbor back in the 80âs who would start his car with the throttle floored, and sit there for at least 15 seconds bouncing the engine off the rev limiter. My dad asked him once if he could help fix the car so he could start it normally, but the guy said he liked to do it that way. Then he spent a lot of time complaining about the âpiece of crap carsâ that kept breaking on him. Go figure.
But if you pay attention and actually think about what youâre doing, I think you do gain a better understanding of engine performance/loads with a manual. Itâs not an understanding that is useful in automatics (unless you have a DCT) because the computer does all the understanding for you and doesnât give you the option of meaningfully overriding it. But itâs an understanding nonetheless.
If you want to get quick insight on what a powerband is and how it applies to driving, drive a stick. You quickly learn the relationship between RPMs and acceleration, and how you can adjust your shift timing to optimize it. Even if the powerband is almost a misnomer due to being generated by a hamster as in @Managing-Editor-Julie 's Beetle. 
Back when I learned stick, it was on my dadâs '82 Tercel, which did not come equipped with a tachometer. You learned to shift by listening to the engine. This is how 16 year old me discovered what a rev limiter is and what it does when you hit it in first gear.
At the time our other vehicle was an '89 Caravan, which did have a tach despite having an automatic. I remember thinking that somewhat silly, as it would have been much more useful in that old Tercel!
I still have two manual cars today - a '93 MR2 and a '91 CRX. I used to have 3, but we sold our wonderful old '88 Mitsubishi pickup to get one more capable of towing a camper. We still miss it, especially the cool factor of a 5 speed truck.
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I used to have a Sky Reline with a stick but replaced it with a newer model that has a slushbox. I really miss the stick, especially when on the twisties such as around Ohiopyle, PA, Gatlinburg, and Wayne National Forest. Stinking arthritis.
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My 510 Datsun had a rev limiterâŠit was valve float!
I did add a tach to the car but it was just for entertainment.
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I find myself working constantly on maximizing the control of my hybrid, to get the mpgs while getting to work quickly!
After 20+ years of driving sticks, followed by 20+ years of ATs, I donât feel any loss of controlâŠ
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When I was about 20, I had a really nice 1978 chevy C20 pickup. 4 speed manual with a really low gear in 1st. so you basically started in 2nd gear unless you were towing. I was working for an electronic parts supply company. I had recently put a new clutch in the truck. the owners 25-year-old son loved the truck, and every other day would hound me to sell it to him. I told him I did not want to sell it. I said besides its a stick. he said no problem for him. well after a month of hounding me every other day he made me an offer I could not pass up on. I guess he really wanted it. I do not know why when his rich dad could have bought him a new truck. so, I sold it to him. well, I guess the stick was a problem for him because I found out about 2 weeks later, he burned up the brand-new clutch.