With the recent release of the latest generation 911 (991 series), Porsche has introduced a world’s first innovative technology which is the seven-speed manual transmission. Porsche has believed that the traditional stick shift still has a place in their flagship sports model but that seems not to be the case after one of their employees revealed that the manual transmission will be phased out in the near future.

This information was revealed by the German company’s project manager, Michael Schatzle, who worked on the new 911 model. He personally believed that the manual transmission on the 911 would only last for another one or two generations and it may be phased out by the end of the decade.

He further explained that 78% of 911 buyers globally prefer the PDK dual clutch transmission over the traditional manual transmission, though that number in the United States is said to be around 50%. Not only that the customers prefer the PDK over the manual transmission, but Schatzle also suggested that the company’s management prefer the same options too.

One of the reasons why Porsche released the seven-speed manual was due to the cost benefit of multiple parts sharing with the seven-speed PDK and this will come to an end pretty soon as Porsche has begun studying on a new nine-speed PDK transmission. And because of this, it is very much unlikely that a nine speed PDK would share much in common with a traditional manual transmission.

Although Schatzle pointed out that these predictions are just his personal opinions and thoughts rather than an official report but recently there have been some rumours that Porsche might drop the manual transmission from the latest 911 GT3. And if the racing orientated sub-model loses the manual stick, then it is fair to say that the rest of the 911 line-up will eventually follow suit.

Photo credit: Net Car Show

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