Which cars have Manual Transmissions: All the Cars on Sale in Australia

The slow decline of the manual transmission both here in Australia and globally has saddened us greatly here at DiscoverAuto as we’re sure it has enthusiasts everywhere. As the move towards more electrified and more advanced cars across the globe continues, cars with manual transmissions are likely to continue to decline in sales. Thankfully however, for now, there are still some models available Down Under with three pedals. So which cars have manual transmissions? Here is a list of cars still available (at the time of publishing) with a manual option by brand:

Abarth

Abarth are one of the brands that have offered a manual transmission since they were offered here in Australia. The only model currently available by the Italian hot hatch brand is the 595 which is available in either a hatch or a convertible. The standard transmission is a five-speed manual, which we love.

Abarth 595 Competizione: five-speed manual

BMW

It is only natural that ‘the ultimate driving machine’ would have a model to offer a manual transmission – you could even special order a manual on a number of models locally in the past. However, the only manual models available from the Bavarian car company are the M3 and M4 twins fitted with rear wheel drive. The all-wheel drive variants – and upcoming M3 wagon – are unfortunately automatic only.

BMW M3: six-speed manual
BMW M4: six-speed manual

Fiat

Much like the Abarth, Fiat the Italian auto maker offer a manual gearbox on their sole model sold in Australia. The current model Fiat 500 has now been in production for 2008 and has offered a five-speed manual option since being offered for sale locally. Variants available with the three pedal setup are the ‘Dolcevita’ and the Lounge’.

Fiat 500 Dolcevita/Lounge: five-speed manual

Ford

The blue oval have always had a few models available as manuals locally but recently with the confirmation that the Fiesta ST and Focus ST (both were available with manual transmissions) will no longer be available and with the loss of the manual option on the Ford Ranger, the cars available with the three pedal setup has dramatically dropped. Now there is only the Ford Mustang High Performance, Ford Mustang GT, Ford Transit and the Ford Transit Custom.

Ford Fiesta ST: six-speed manual
Ford Focus ST: six-speed manual
Ford Mustang High Performance/GT: six-speed manual
Ford Transit: six-speed manual
Ford Transit Custom: six-speed manual

Honda

While Honda doesn’t offer any manuals in Australia at the moment – a big shame, if you ask us, as Honda’s manuals have always been superb – the new-generation Civic Type R will be manual-only in Australia upon its release in early 2023.

Hyundai

Hyundai is actually a brand that still offer a nice amount of vehicles with the manual transmissions. There are the i30 Sedan (base model and N Line), the i30 hatch (base model, N Line and N Line Premium), the i20 N Performance, the i30 N sedan and hatch and lastly the Venue base model and Venue Active. All of the models mentioned here are available as six-speed manuals.

Hyundai Venue/Venue Active: six-speed manual
Hyundai i30 hatch base/N Line/N Line Premium: six-speed manual
Hyundai i30 sedan base/N Line: six-speed manual
Hyundai i30 N sedan/hatch: six-speed manual

Isuzu

Isuzu is more of a commercial company, so it offers manual transmissions on the SX, LS-M and LS-U variants of their Isuzu D-Max. Unfortunately you cannot get a manual on the Isuzu MU-X.

Isuzu D-Max SX/LS-M/LS-U: six-speed manual

Kia

Like its Hyundai cousin, Kia offers a decent amount of vehicles locally with a manual gearbox. These include the Picanto (S, GT-Line and GT), Rio (S, Sport and SX), Stonic (S and Sport) and the Sportage (S and SX).

Kia Picanto S/GT-Line/GT: five-speed manual
Kia Rio S/Sport/SX: six-speed manual
Kia Stonic S/Sport: six-speed manual
Kia Sportage S/SX: six-speed manual

LDV

Like Isuzu, LDV is more of a commercial company, meaning there are manual transmissions offered on most of their vehicles. The Deliver 9, T60 Max and the V80 are all available with manual gearboxes.

LDV Deliver 9: six-speed manual
LDV T60 Max Pro/Luxe: six-speed manual
V80 SWB/LWB: six-speed manual

Mahindra

Mahindra is a brand not known by a lot of Australians. It is an Indian auto maker that make rugged and dependable work horse utes. The only model we receive here in Australia is the Pik-Up, which is available solely with a six-speed manual.

Mahindra Pik-Up: six-speed manual

Mazda

Mazda is a brand that has been quite loyal to the three pedal setup. Even now in 2022, most of its range can be had as a manual. There is the Mazda2 G15 Pure, most variants of the Mazda3, all variants of the Mazda CX-3 (except the top spec Akari and all-wheel drive variants), all variants of the BT-50 ute, the CX-30 G20 Pure, all MX-5 variants and the CX-5 Maxx. All of these models are available as six-speed manuals.

Mazda2 G15 Pure: six-speed manual
Mazda3 most models: six-speed manual
Mazda CX-30 G20 Pure: six-speed manual
Mazda CX-5 Maxx: six-speed manual
Mazda MX-5 all models: six-speed manual
Mazda BT-50: six-speed manual

Mercedes-Benz

Here is a brand you didn’t expect to see here. Mercedes-Benz only offers one model locally with the three pedal setup and it is the commercial Mercedes-Benz Vito, which is available as a six-speed manual.

Mercedes-Benz Vito: six-speed manual

Mini

Mini has always been known for its sporty, nimble and fun nature. This also means that some of its cars (arguably the more fun ones) are available with six-speed manuals. These include the Clubman base model and S, the Convertible base, S and JCW, the 5-door Cooper base and S and the 3-door Cooper base, S and JCW.

Cooper 3-door base/S/JCW: six-speed manual
Cooper 5-door base/S: six-speed manual
Convertible base/S/JCW: six-speed manual
Clubman base/S: six-speed manual

Mitsubishi

There are only two models of Mitsubishi available with a manual transmission in Australia: the ASX and the Triton. The specific variants are the ASX ES, Triton GLX, Triton GLX+ and the Triton GLS.

Mitsubishi ASX ES: five-speed manual
Mitsubishi Triton GLX/GLX+/GLS: six-speed manual

Nissan

The only two models of Nissan currently available locally with the three pedal setup are the Navara range and the new Nissan Z, both of which can be had with a six-speed manual. Luckily, you can get any model Navara with a manual gearbox.

Nissan Navara all models: six-speed manual
Nissan Z: six-speed manual

Peugeot

Another car manufacturer which you wouldn’t expect to be on a list like this is Peugeot. Not a lot of people will know that Peugeot actually also sell commercial vans in Australia. There are the Expert and the Boxer, which are both available with six-speed manuals.

Peugeot Expert: six-speed manual
Peugeot Boxer: six-speed manual

Porsche

As expected, sports car brand Porsche does offer quite a few of its cars with manual transmissions. There is the 718 Boxster, the 718 Cayman and the 911. All of these cars can be had with either six-speed manuals, or for the 911, seven-speed manuals to appease the purists.

718 Boxster base/S/GTS/Spyder: six-speed manual
718 Cayman base/S/GTS/GT4: six-speed manual
911 Carrera GTS/Sport Classic: seven-speed manual
911 GT3: six-speed manual

Renault

Renault is known for its fun to drive hot hatches and also in Australia, its commercial vans. You can opt for a manual transmission in the Megane R.S., the Trafic and the Master.

Renault Megane R.S. Trophy: six-speed manual
Renault Trafic: six-speed manual
Renault Master: six-speed manual

Ssangyong

Ssangyong is a Korean brand that offers well priced SUVs in Australia, as well as a dual-cab ute called the Musso, which is available as a six-speed manual in ELX and ELX XLV trims.

Ssangyong Musso ELX/ELX XLV: six-speed manual

Subaru

Unfortunately in recent years, Subaru has announced that models such as the XV, Impreza and Forester will no longer be sold as manuals. In some good news, there are some models still available with manual gearboxes: the new BRZ and the new WRX. Both come with close ratio six-speed units that are a joy to use.

BRZ base/Coupe S: six-speed manual
WRX base/RS: six-speed manual

Suzuki

A manufacturer has never been known for their small light cars more than Suzuki has. With cars of this nature it makes sense to offer manual transmissions for them. The Suzuki Swift, Swift Sport, Jimny, Ignis, Vitara and Baleno (which is about to be dropped) are all available as manuals.

Suzuki Ignis GL: five-speed manual
Suzuki Swift GL/GL S: five-speed manual
Suzuki Swift Sport: six-speed manual
Suzuki Vitara base: five-speed manual
Suzuki Jimny/Jimny Lite: five-speed manual

Toyota

The Toyota range in Australia has slowly culled manual cars from its range but there are still a select few that remain. These are the new GR86, GR Yaris, the HiAce, HiLux and the LandCruiser 70-Series, while the GR Corolla and incoming Supra update will also be available with manuals. Cars that have recently been disappointingly axed are the manual versions of the Corolla, Yaris, RAV4 and C-HR.

GR86 GT/GTS: six-speed manual
Yaris GR: six-speed manual
HiAce: six-speed manual
HiLux Workmate/SR/SR5: six-speed manual (five-speed for petrol workmate)
LandCruiser 70-Series Workmate/GX/GXL: five-speed manual

Volkswagen

One of the remaining European brands to offer a manual transmission is Volkswagen. Like Toyota, over the recent years, Volkswagen have been culling manual models such as the Golf and Tiguan but there are still a few left. You can still get a three-pedal Polo, Caddy, Transporter and Crafter.

Volkswagen Polo 70TSI Life: five-speed manual
Caddy TDI280 SWB/Maxi: six-speed manual
Transporter TDI250: five-speed manual
Transporter TDI340: six-speed manual
Crafter all models: six-speed manual

What do we want sold in Australia?

There are quite a few vehicles sold overseas with manual transmissions that we unfortunately do not get here in Australia. Here are a few that we would love to see locally:

Alfa Romeo Giulia: six-speed manual
BMW 1 Series: six-speed manual
BMW 2 Series: six-speed manual
BMW 3 Series: six-speed manual
Cupra Leon: six-speed manual
Cupra Formentor: six-speed manual
Honda Civic VTi-LX: six-speed manual
Jeep Wrangler: six-speed manual
Jeep Gladiator: six-speed manual
Peugeot 308: six-speed manual
Peugeot 508: six-speed manual
Skoda Karoq: six-speed manual (no longer offered locally)
Skoda Kamiq: six-speed manual (no longer offered locally)
Skoda Scala: six-speed manual (no longer offered locally)
Skoda Octavia 1.5TSI: six-speed manual
Skoda Octavia RS: six-speed manual
Volkswagen Golf 1.5TSI: six-speed manual
Volkswagen Golf GTI: six-speed manual
Volkswagen Golf R: six-speed manual

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