However, as the bottom line of any automaker is profit, no manufacturer is going to allocate time, resources and money into a dying product. Each vehicle manufacturer spends an inordinate yet necessary amount of time making sure the engine and transmission work in perfect harmony with one another. Powertrain MatchingĪn important OEM term to understand is powertrain matching. Below, we’ll highlight the technological advancements that made automatic transmissions more durable, functional and efficient, and that also sent the hand-shaker to the graveyard. Sad but true.īut what gradually drove the masses away from manual transmissions in a truck segment where hard work is the name of the game? Was it an unwillingness to put in the legwork of shifting our own gears that killed off the manual, the lower power rating that often accompanied the standard shift option or are today’s automatic transmissions just that good? We think it’s a combination of all of the above. Once Ram’s manual transmission sales bottomed out, it was likely no longer justifiable to offer the option.

It’s all about customer demand, and by customer demand they mean sales. But why have all of the big dogs now pulled anchor on what has traditionally been the backbone of the American work truck? To the Big Three, the answer is easy. To be fair, the writing was on the wall for years with Ford having dropped out of the game in ’11 and GM doing the same five years prior.

With the arrival of the 2019 Ram Heavy-Duty came the death of the manual transmission option in North American diesel pickups.

Handshaker manual transmision