Report: Only 18 Percent Of Americans Can Drive Vehicles With Manual Transmission
(CBS) – A new report shows fewer Americans own a car with manual transmission, let alone know how to operate one. And there appear to be a number of reasons for it.
The report from U.S. News and World Report show only 18 percent of U.S. drivers know how to operate a stick shift.
It says that because of advancements in automatic transmissions and fuel economy, only about 5 percent of vehicles sold in the U.S. today come with a stick shift. That's down from 25 percent of cars in 1987.
The third pedal is also bad for resale value, on average selling for $2,000 less than cars with automatic transmissions.