Subaru Quietly Drops a Key Feature on the New 2017 Impreza After 23 Years What’s Behind their Decision?

"Will you miss it?" I'm going to hold my 2006 manual Impreza longer, I guess.

Rest in peace manual - you've lost your relevance (except for the manly men who drink Old Spice and row their own gears, LOL).

I'm a die hard shifter, own a miata, but love the cvt, in the snow, on the highway, a cvt is better and drama free. Going up a hill, no banging a downshift and maybe losing traction in the snow. Rpms go up slightly, and going down a hill it will engine bake just as nicely as a manual will. Only real loss is the fixed 50/50 torque split in the manual's transfer case. The auto has 60/40 - 90/10 depending on conditions and type of driving.

I'm sure they'll keep the manual for the sti and wrx models.

"Subaru won’t miss many sales by dropping the 5-speed manual transmission from the 2017 Impreza lineup."

Wow, Subaru is doing their best to push me back to VW. I was actually considering a 2017 Impreza hatch. Not anymore. Once Subaru rids themselves of all manuals, it's unlikely that I'll be buying another new car from them.

7% sales in manual transmissions alone is a great enough reason to eliminate it entirely. We don't want another Mitsubishi in the market.

No one here in the "Old Europe" would consider a compact car without a manual gear box.
Automatic and CV transmissions work well here on "large cruising cars", but not on compact, sporty cars.
So it means Impreza will not be imported in Europe anymore... Only a few of them were annyway...
Lets' wait and see about the 2018 WRX and WRX STI...

my limited edition RS40 Manual just went up in value 300% lol

Um....working for Subaru in Canada, I can assure you that the manual transmission is still available here. Not sure about the States but you can order a manual transmission in Canada.

The core Subaru die-hards like me will be very disappointed. Subaru is selling so many vehicles these days that they have made the decision to leave some of us behind. I kind of wish they would bring back a Justy type subcompact vehicle to get their average corporate gas mileage up high enough so they can bring back the 6 speed manuals. You can wind up these Impreza's (and older legacy/outbacks) with the manuals to at least make them borderline acceptable acceleration wise but the CVT really slows them down - to improve the fuel economy. In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out how to sneak a Canadian 6 speed Outback or Impreza across the border legally...

Subaru just lost this customer.

I find it bizarre that a drivers car like the new Impreza does not have a manual option.
Surely Subaru should have developed a 6 gear manual option .
They will lose potential buyers,an opportunity lost!
The decision on a UK launch seems a long way off.
Will the new WRX/STI be manual,or are we in for another shock!!

If only they had developed a 6 speed manual transmission plus auto rev match...that would have completely turn around its sales figures.

What sales figures?
Subaru is the oly manufacturer you has beaten their sales quotas since 2007. They have increased their sales every year without fail.
I swear there are people commenting on here who think they know how to do marketing.
Oh and did the American people know that Subaru WILL BE making the manual transmission as of this January.
Americans, do your research because you're making yourselves look very ignorant.

This article is inaccurate. The 2017 Impreza retains a manual transmission option on USA models

I don't understand why any one would prefer an automatic transmission in an AWD. I have an Impreza Manual and will only trade it in on another manual of similar capability. I rent a lot of cars and they are usually only automatic. I never feel that I have the control, particularly on dirt roads when driving those cars. Such a pity Suburu has dropped the manual. I would have done a trade in. As for catering for a younger market, my daughter wants to learn to drive in a manual car.

I just went to the Subaru Website. Jan 1017. "Build your own" Impreza. 5 sp manual is available. This article is nonsense.

I got a 2017 manual. The true lifers of Subaru just want the boxer engine and simple manual gearbox. We don't want a CVT. CVTs are overly complicated. Don't take my word for just ask a tranny shop which gearbox is the most difficult to fix. my mom leased 2 Nissan rogues, by the time each of them were ready to go back the CVTs did not feel dependable whatsoever, and thats not even near 60,000 miles yet. CVTs need to go away. Real car guys don't buy CVTs. You have a timing chain right, how many miles you go til service on that? And it doesn't move around in the engine, just goes around in a circle all day, and they typically have to be services between 110,000 miles and 160,000 miles. A chain that goes up and down taking the stresses of the drive train??? That won't get much passed 100,000 miles. They are good for one application, hybrid vehicles. If you want basic car that is easy to maintain, then get subaru with a manual transmission. Sales figures have to be a lie, they just want to sell more cars. Since Subarus last so damn long a CVT can cure that problem and they will sell more cars.

The reason they had such a drop in manual cars is because the last model completely lost the interest of that particular section of the market. Let’s be honest Subaru completely lost its sporty look for a while. Now they have worked hard to clasp back some of its charm they have dropped the manual? Subaru I think you need to do some research and really figure out who your market is and what they want! Keep missing the target! I like the new look but completely let down by the CVT choice. Would settle for dual sports clutch but CVT?! What’s wrong with you Subaru??