The 5-Speed Transmission Is Dead In The US, And This Was The Last Car To Have One

In the U.S., the final car to feature a five-speed manual transmission was the base trim Nissan Versa. In 2025, Nissan announced the end of production, specifically for the manual version, but then decided to discontinue the model across the board for U.S. markets. It was sad news, as the five-speed gearbox reigned supreme in the 1970's, until it slowly lost its hold to six-speed manuals which started first appearing in the 1990's. It's also another nail in the coffin for affordable car options, as the Nissan Versa five-speed was under $18,000. In fact, the 2025 Nissan Versa is still listed on the automaker's website, although since it has been discontinued, your only option is certified pre-owned. SlashGear praised the Versa for offering a lot of bang for the buck.

Dropping the Versa was just one step in Nissan's ongoing strategy. Ivan Espinosa, Nissan President and CEO, explained to Motor Trend, "Every product in the portfolio should contribute something. It could be profit or volume or brand strengthening." Unfortunately, among the Versa models in 2024, the five-speeds were less than 5% of the overall sales, per Auto World Journal. So, the subcompact sedan wasn't generating much profit for the automaker, and didn't have the clout of something like the Nissan Z, which may not shatter sales records, but is considered a central flagship performance model of the brand.

However, even setting aside disappointing sales figures of the Versa, the writing was already on the wall for five-speeds in the U.S. market. The six-speed gearbox was widely available starting a few decades ago, making five gears but an echo, well before the Versa was discontinued.

One of the advantages of a six-speed is better fuel economy. Since the 1970's, federal regulators have continued to tighten standards, with the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program setting requirements for automakers, which used to be punishable by fines. While the ability to fine car manufacturers has been removed, over the previous decades Café has pushed automakers to improve fuel efficiency. Hence, one of the reasons the six-speed gearbox gained prominence.

There is a direct relationship between engine RPMs and fuel usage. The sixth gear is used for overdrive, which essentially allows you to cruise highway speeds at a lower RPM, providing better fuel economy. A five-speed gearbox tends to run at higher RPMs on the highway, using up more gasoline.

To demonstrate this, YouTube channel The SS454 Garage, performed a overdrive test on their video, "5 Speed vs 6 Speed – Miles Per Gallon." One vehicle is a 1968 Chevelle SS, with an LS6 454 engine and a five-speed manual transmission. The other, is a 1971 Chevelle SS with an LS5 454 under the hood and a six-speed gearbox, and the cars are within around 40 pounds of each other in terms of total weight (minus the driver). The Chevelle with the five-speed hovered around 2800-to 3100 RPM for the majority of the test, getting approximately 13.03 miles per gallon. Conversely, the six-speed Chevelle ran between 1800-and 2200 RPMs for much of time, achieving around 18.35 miles per gallon.