BMW Z4 2019 may Lose an Option with Manual Transmission

Recently, it has transpired that BMW plans to give up on the manual transmission as an option on its new 2019 BMW Z4. The open sports car is a niche-market product, and adding the model with a manual transmission would divide the number of potential buyers into quantities too small to matter.

It becomes clear that sports cars with manual transmissions get forced out of the market by models equipped with automatic transmissions, therefore it is not surprising that the 2019 BMW Z4 is planned to be produced only with the 8-speed ZF automatic transmission. Klaus Frohlich, the head of R&D department in the BMW, said that the sports car segment is a dwindling market and today customers prefer cars with automatic transmissions, because modern automatic transmissions are just as good as manual transmissions in parameters which were previously considered as advantages of the manuals.

Moreover, it simply wouldn’t be financially viable for BMW to invest heavily in development of a manual gearbox for the Z4 when few people would buy it. However, Frohlich doesn’t rule out the possibility that the manual option may be available for the Z4 in the future, but such scenario should certainly be backed by sufficient demand for the product.

2019 BMW Z4 M40i on display at 'The Quail' show during Monterey Car Week

Despite the rumors about lack of the manual option, BMW admirers have reasons to be excited about the 2019 model. The BMW Z4 M40i will be equipped with a 6-cylinder engine producing 380 hp. The transmission options haven’t been revealed so far, but images provided by the carmaker only show an automatic.

BMW is not the only auto manufacturer which places stakes on cars with automatic transmissions. Subaru gradually reduces the number of car models equipped with manual transmissions preferring CVT transmissions; Alfa Romeo, Maserati, and Ferrari also expressed their intention to reduce the number of models with manual transmissions in the product lines. Audi also has recently decided to finally give up on manufacturing of cars equipped with a manual transmission for the US market due to sluggish demand.