Buick's Manual Offerings Cut In Half
Published: June 6th, 2014
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If you want a Buick with three pedals, your only option is now the Regal.
Buick has dropped the manual Verano for 2015, due to what must be a lack of demand. Aside from our own Daveincalgary and a few press loaners, there are next to no examples of manual Veranos existing in the wild. And as we’ll see in our next installment of Dave’s Verano adventures, his experience with the manual transmission hasn’t been entirely pleasant.
More by Derek Kreindler
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I've seen this happen so many times, it's not even news
I'm French and enjoy a little tour of the TTAC posts at time. More for that direct plug into real America, than the actual latest news of the US car market. Ah internet... Yes I'm a manual transmission man. Having read it all, my views : 1- Here in West europe the automatic or 'automated' demand is steadily on the rise, quite desrvingly so (still minor, of course.) I've been a passenger in some of these ("big" Volvo, Citroën, taxis..) and I can understand. Also recently for nearly a year I was the happy regular driver of a vintage lovely Renault 5 which happened to be, urgh, an automatic (3 speeds only!). So I got used to it, to the point of, even, appreciate it (less work, overall.) 2- Still there is no competition, MT is indeed "the proper way to drive a car." It's... simple : just ask your motorcycle riding friend or familly member what he would make of an automated motorbike.. There is nothing of a "control freak" in this, it's just the way gasoline automobiles work. If it'd be an electric engine, fine, but oil&pistons engines cannot be stalled, and have a limited range of rpm's where they operate fine. So they require clutch and gear, anything else is an imitation of an eletric car. Some day there might be self steering cars, yes even into your country home rock'n vegetables lane.., predominant in the automotive market for one or two generations of 'drivers' already : Still, wouldn't you say that "driving a car" defines at least turning that wheel between your hands to steer the car ? I feel the same regarding MT. Yes it does have smthg to do with the satisfaction of controling things out... 3- There will always be a market for MT new cars. I understand that the 2014 US market 'biggies' are quite puzzled about what to offer over there, and feel certain the definitive niche will (should???) be settled by Europe. Where I, my father, young nephews and nieces have all learnt to drive on MT's, and do so everyday since. Thinking about the motorbike idea, this niche will some sort of "fun cars for the real amateur car drivers", any cost, any power, but a dedicated 'driver's car'. If in doubt of whether this niche will ever exist just come over here, and have loose talk with anybody you can pick, feelling he or she might even remotely "be considering" this... insist well on the "AT or MT ?" question... I garantee a sizeable 'fromage' (portion) of the entire drivers' population, no less. European "MT fundamentalists" of future times may well be the equivalent of iconic "Easy Rider" and likewise 'Angels' of sorts of American fame... Do they seem to dissapear ? Does not the US industry, hm, lend an ear to these today ? Or then the Japanese... 4- Yes as said smwhr above having to garantee a clutch must be scary nowadays for any US market actor... It is so easy to ruin when you don't have a clue "what's that 3rd pedal for ?" Young testosterone filled ignorants, roaring the exhaust all evening long 'on the clutch' , nobody making a difference betwwen neutral and clutch action etc. And I'm not talking about the legendary female approach to the mystery... Perhaps car dealers in the USA should just sell those 'fun MT cars' with a replacement clutch, direct.
The entire consumer base for MT vehicles in the US is comprised of people who comment on this blog. That's it. And I bet that over half of those who say how great MT vehicles are don't own one for practical reasons, or just drive one only on the weekends. Just because literally dozens of people scream about how awesome MT vehicles are on this site, it can give you the idea that in the real world just as equal percentage of the population want to buy them. Plus, an MT Buick? Really? I've seen Buick's typical customers at GMC dealerships, sporty and MT are probably the LAST things they are looking for in a car.
Apparently this is not true, the 2015 Verano will have a manual trans option after all. Buick cleared the confusion on this. From AB: "UPDATE: Buick wrote back to let us know that it will indeed continue to offer a six-speed manual transmission on the 2015 Verano, and the automaker expresses apologies for the previous, incorrect information. In any case, good news for row-your-own fans! Also, Desert Dusk Metallic paint is not part of the Appearance Package, as was previously reported." It appears that at first, even Buick didn't realize they make an MT Verano.