Surprising no one, the CEO of BMW M says the era of manual transmission cars is almost over

• Frank van Meel, the CEO of BMWs M Division says the business model for manual transmissions is getting worse.
• The M boss told the Australian outlet Autosales.com that the days of performance manufacturers offering manual transmissions are numbered.
• According to van Meel, the business case for developing new manual transmissions no longer exists.

Surprising absolutely no one, the CEO of BMW’s M division says the business model for manual transmissions is getting worse and worse. Frank van Meel told the Australian website Carsales.com that it won’t be long before BMW completely abolishes the manual gearbox.

“So we are still happy with the manuals that we have, and we plan to keep them for years to come, but in the future it will probably become more difficult to keep the manuals alive, especially in the next decade,” Van Meel told the outlet.

According to the CEO, a large part of the problem is the power supply. As performance cars become more and more powerful, manufacturers are placing increasing demands on the transmissions that deliver that power to the wheels. BMW’s current six-speed manual transmission is limited to about 440 pound-feet of torque, which limits the number of models in which it can be sold. Currently, BMW offers a manual transmission in only four models: the M2, M3, M4 and Z4. Adding a third pedal to more powerful models, such as the CS variants, would require designing a new transmission.

“It will be quite difficult to develop completely new gearboxes in the future, because the segment in the market is quite small and suppliers are not very keen on that,” says Van Meel.

Yet neither Van Meel nor BMW want to abolish manual gearboxes anymore. “But from an emotional point of view and from a customer point of view, a lot of people still like manuals, so that’s why we kept them, and we plan to keep them as long as we can.”

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Jack Fitzgerald’s love for cars stems from his still unshakable addiction to Formula 1.
After a brief stint as a detailer for a local dealer group in college, he knew he needed a more permanent way to drive all the new cars he couldn’t afford, and decided to pursue a career in automotive writing. By chasing down his college professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel across Wisconsin in search of stories about the automotive world before landing his dream job at Car and driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf.