- Nissan has ended production of Versa sedans equipped with manual transmissions.
- The DIY gearbox had a 5% take rate last year, which resulted in around 2,129 being sold.
- Previous reports have suggested the Versa could be killed off early next year.
It’s the end of an era as the last five-speed manual transmission in America has quietly been killed. It came standard on the entry-level Nissan Versa S, which started at $17,190 and asked customers to “shift up into fun.”
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While a 122 hp (91 kW / 124 PS) econobox isn’t our idea of a good time, the Versa S had an ace up its sleeve. It was the cheapest car in America, following the death of the Mitsubishi Mirage.
More: 2025 Nissan Versa Sees $1k Price Hike, Still America’s Cheapest New Sedan
Despite this, there’s little demand for manuals and tariffs certainly didn’t help. In fact, they appear to have been the final nail in a very cheap coffin.
Automotive News broke the story of the manual’s demise and it was confirmed in a statement to Car & Driver. In the latter, the automaker said “We are focusing on the most popular Versa grades that deliver the strongest business performance and are in line with what customers are looking for from this type of sedan.”
The decision isn’t too surprising when you look at the numbers as Automotive News says less than 5% of Versas sold in the United States last year had a manual transmission. Doing the math, that’s a mere 2,129 units.
This made keeping the manual around hard to justify and one dealer told the publication they only sold four or five units with the gearbox last year. Auto News also noted the car is expected to go out of production next year and previous reports have suggested the Mexican-made Versa could die in April.
If that happens, it would be a blow to consumers with limited budgets. Nissan’s second least expensive vehicle is the $21,520 Kicks Play and it’s closely followed by the $21,590 Sentra and $21,830 Kicks.
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