There are not many automakers left out there that are trying to keep the dying art of driving a manual transmission alive. Very few performance cars are even available with a manual anymore and even fewer shun the option for an automatic entirely. The 2020 Hyundai Veloster N was one of only a few cars to be sold with a manual as its only transmission option but with the 2021 facelift, it added a dual-clutch option to appeal to more buyers.
The Veloster N may not be manual-only anymore but Hyundai still seems committed to keeping the three-pedal option alive. Speaking on the other side of the world in Australia with Car Sales, Hyundai Product Planner Howard Lam reaffirmed the company's commitment to saving the manuals.
"Where possible, we would continue to like to offer buyers the choice of a manual transmission for purists or the eight-speed dual-clutch transmission," Lam said. "It's hard to say what growth we will achieve, but we understand that our competitors who offer an automatic have achieved significant mix with those transmissions. We'll just have to wait. I would say more people will buy the auto than the manual."
These words come as Hyundai plans to launch an onslaught of high-performance models, some of which will make it to the US. The upcoming Kona N will almost certainly come with a dual-clutch only but we expect the recently spied Elantra N to pack a manual option. Lam's words may not have a direct impact on the US market but it still seems as though Hyundai will be one of the lone holdouts continuing to offer cars with manuals.
The Australian market will soon receive a small hot hatchback sitting below the i30 N called the i20 N. It is still unclear if the i20 N could potentially make its way stateside, but since the i20 is built on a different platform to the subcompact Hyundai Accent, our hopes are not high. The subcompact hot hatchback segment has been left essentially empty in the US since the Ford Fiesta ST and Fiat 500 Abarth were both discontinued. We'd love to see the i20 N make it here in some capacity but we'll also settle for new manual models like the upcoming Elantra N and Elantra N-Line.