Subaru Likely to Ditch Manual Transmission in Quest for Safer Cars

Subaru may get rid of the manual transmission option offered in some of its products as it works to offer the safest vehicles in the industry.

The Japanese automaker is hoping to apply its EyeSight active safety technology to every one of its vehicles going forward. EyeSight uses a series of cameras to control systems such as lane departure warning, automatic emergency braking and adaptive cruise control. It’s not compatible with a manual transmission, however, and Subaru isn’t open to the idea of offering manual transmission versions of the vehicles without EyeSight. The automaker wants to be known for having the safest vehicles in the world, and it can’t do that if there’s still some Subaru badged cars running around without EyeSight.

“I’m not sure if it’s compatible at all with a manual gearbox,” Subaru’s UK director, Chris Graham, told AutoExpress in a recent interview. “There are certainly no rumors we’ve heard that manual will continue, or Eyesight will be [offered] with manual.”

“My gut tells me it will be Eyesight with Lineartronic (CVT) ongoing and long term,” he added. “They want to steal the mantle of the safest car in the world. I think if they do that, then they say ‘here’s a manual without Eyesight’, they’ll just ruin that.”

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And as for the WRX STI? It’s likely to get an automatic transmission as well. Graham said he’s excited by the idea of a hybrid STI, which would almost certainly need to be equipped with an automatic. He pointed out that many models in BMW’s M line of performance products aren’t offered with a manual but are still fun to drive, so it’s not the end of the world for STI fans. He also said a hybrid automatic STI would have “phenomenal” acceleration. We sense a bit of foreshadowing going on here.

It’s hardly surprising to see active safety technologies spell the end of the manual transmission. We get the feeling we’re just getting started with this trend – once active safety tech is required across the board, the manual transmission is likely to become obsolete in new cars.

[Source: AutoExpress]

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