If there ever was a time when Hyundai believed that manual isn’t dead, at least in the United States, it’s probably long gone by now as the automaker announced the option will be dropped from the 2021 Venue crossover lineup.
The reason? Dismal sales. Zero sales, to be exact.
Hyundai sounded optimistic when it launched an affordable crossover in the US market, equipped with a six-speed manual transmission and a CVT only offered as an option. At the time, there was a significantly lesser number of manual vehicles.
Unfortunately for the automaker, not a single customer purchased a manual Venue in the previous year. This is not surprising considering that only 18% of American drivers knew how to drive a stick shift based on a 2018 report by US News & World Report.
But with this latest decision, what happens to loyal customers of the departing model? A good enough option would be to go for a Subaru Crosstrek or a Kia Soul, which are both still offered with a manual transmission. And if size is not an issue, there are also other viable options from the Hyundai portfolio such as the Accent, Elantra GT, and Veloster.
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