Will this decision take away the "joy of driving" at BMW?

The manual transmission is a symbol of unfiltered driving pleasure at BMW. However, future generations of the brand's M models will have to do without it. Here are the reasons magazin de piese auto online.

Will this decision take away the "joy of driving" at BMW?

Bad news for BMW M fans: manual transmissions may soon be a thing of the past. Although around 40 percent of M customers will opt for a manual transmission by 2025, BMW M boss Frank van Meel is not convinced that the technical and economic efforts will be profitable in the long term.

Manufacturers are increasingly focusing on automatic transmissions

As reported by Carsales.com, van Meel told Australian media that manual transmissions are becoming increasingly difficult to justify from a technical point of view. Developing new transmissions is "quite difficult" because the market for this type of gearbox is relatively small and suppliers are increasingly focusing on automatic transmissions.

While the Bavarians' M division plans to continue offering the existing manual transmissions for a few more years, it will be difficult to keep them alive in the long term – especially over the next decade.

Manual transmissions are only available in a few models

Currently, BMW still offers manual transmission options for the M2, M3, M4, and even the Z4. It's unclear how long that will remain the case, but it's expected that new generations of models will focus primarily on electrified powertrains - combined with automatic or other transmission systems.

Overall, BMW plans to launch around 30 new performance models in the coming years.

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Bad news for BMW M fans: manual transmissions may soon be a thing of the past

Manufacturers are increasingly focusing on automatic transmissions