Since Ferrari announced that its 458 Italia V-8 will never have a manual gear shift and other supercars like the Lamborghini LP 570-4 Superleggera, Lexus LFA, Bentley Continental Supersports and Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG are also not available with a manual transmission,
The Detroit News writes that the manual transmission's obituary may be near due to new and improved automatic technologies. More than 91 percent of 2009 model-year cars sold in the United States were automatics, according to Ward's Automotive Group.