That is remarkable: of all Cadillac, perhaps the most American brand in existence, is bringing back the manual gearbox. The manual gearbox is for the on-going Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing and CT5-V Blackwing, quite fierce sporty types.
The manual transmission seemed doomed, but not if it is up to Cadillac. The sporty top versions of the CT-4 and CT-5, competitors of the BMW 3-series and BMW 5-series respectively, will soon be equipped with a manual six-speed gearbox as standard. A 10-speed automatic transmission is optionally available. Funny detail: the placard on the shift knob, which Cadillac uses to emphasize its special announcement, comes from the 3D printer.
“There are a few ways to make the driver feel really connected to the car. The manual gearbox is the most obvious of these, ”explains Cadillacs Performance boss Mirza Grebovic.
The CT-4 is the successor of the ATS, the CT-5 of the CTS. Both cars were launched in 2019. The V version followed with the CT5 quickly after the introduction of the regular version. With the CT4, the V was even the first variant that we got to see. While ‘V’ guaranteed loads of horsepower until the arrival of these cars, these models are rather mild sports enthusiasts. The CT4-V does it with a four-cylinder with 326 hp, the CT5-V with a V6 with 361 hp. The Blackwing models promise to bring back the old-fashioned violence.
The manual transmission is already on the decline in Europe, but is even almost extinct in the US. Cadillac seizes the opportunity to do a small research on manual gearboxes in the US and that yields interesting figures. For example, two-thirds of American adults would still know how to drive a manual car despite everything. In fact, more than half of Americans say they have ever owned a car with a manual transmission. Forty percent of the group that does not know how to use a manual gearbox is willing to learn it. Remarkably, the proportion of people willing to do so is higher among people with a higher income. Willingness is also greater in younger people.