The Manual Tacoma Is Far From Toyota’s Best-Selling Stick Shift Vehicle
I’m a big fan of manual transmissions. I’m also a big fan of trucks. So I’d love to think that us truck lovers, be we motor-heads or off-road enthusiasts, are the last vanguard of the traditional stick shift. But statistics tell a very different story.
There are currently only two manual transmission pickup trucks available in the U.S. They are the Jeep Gladiator and the Toyota Tacoma. And despite the redesigned Tacoma keeping a manual, only 3 of the 8 Tacoma trims offer a stick.
When Motor1 asked every automaker what their manual transmission “take rate” is, Jeep declined to answer. But Toyota provided detailed numbers, broken down by model. And as much as Tacoma enthusiasts would like to say the three-pedal option of that truck is keeping the manual alive, multiple other manual Toyotas are much more popular.
Of every Tacoma sold in 2023, just 1.4% of them had manual transmissions.
That is actually less than the manual transmission take rate of all cars. Of every vehicle sold in the U.S. in 2023, 1.7% had manual transmissions.
Toyota’s sports cars are leading the manual transmission renaissance. The GR86 is a coupe that shares its chassis and four-cylinder engine with the Subaru BRZ. Of every 2024 GR86 sold, 48% of them had manual transmissions. Toyota’s other sporty coupe is the reincarnated Supra. Toyota made headlines when it began to offer the GR Supra with a stick shift in 2023, and 43% of buyers responded by checking the manual box.
I know what you’re saying: Toyota sells a ton more Tacomas. And you’re correct. Toyota sold 11,078 GR86s in 2023 (5,317 manuals). And it sold 2,652 Supras (1,140 manuals). But it sold a dizzying 234,768 Tacomas (3,051 manuals). But don’t forget the Corolla GR, which only comes with a six-speed manual. Toyota sold another 3,927 of those in 2023. Even though manual Tacomas outsold all configurations of Supras, it’s clear that Toyota’s manual sports car sales stomp its manual truck sales.
We are certainly in the middle of a three-pedal renaissance. By 2021, manual transmissions accounted for less than one percent of U.S. vehicle sales. By 2023, that number shot up to 1.7%. But this increase certainly isn’t being led by pickup buyers.
Take, for example, the number of manual transmission sports cars Toyota offers. Or, the sales of the Mazda Miata (up 40% in 2023 alone). The manual transmission resurgence is probably part of a renewed interest in sports cars.
Next, find out why the manual locking differential is the manual transmission of off-roading, or see the all-new Tacoma with a manual transmission reviewed in the video below:
