I don't think it is profitable for them either. Remember, it is Porsche's SUVs that saved their ass & pays their bills.
It’s much more profitable for them than it would be for Toyota. Toyota has to develop the technology, Porsche already has it and probably uses it in multiple models. So Toyota has to sink cost into the R&D before they can even sell it. Toyota will start in the red. Porsche just has to sell it since they already sunk R&D dollars into developing it.
..but wasn't that the whole point of sharing development costs and pretty much using an existing i6 drivetrain that already has a stick? and what do you concur is "more profitable"? Porsche's revenue is 10 x smaller than Toyota's! ..you can cut it any way you want, but it all comes down to do if they care enough or not.
Toyota projected a $500 million cost in developing a manual for the Supra.
Unless there's a manual, I'll just take my money and hand it over to Lotus instead as they build cars to my liking and even use Toyota engines in them.
Vote with your wallet. Toyota already calculated their take rate on manuals (20%) and decided it was worth the loss.
Toyota needs to go with formula's that work...and have been proven! why spend $500 million on developing a manual transmission??? That ludicrous!!! There are plenty of out-of-the box manual transmissions that they could use if they want to add a manual that would not only be 100 times cheaper, but also be proven to last. I still think a manual is useless nowadays for fast sports cars...maybe ok for smaller entry level cars that don't output alot of power (cough...GT-86....cough). However, if a manual will help in sales, then a Getrag from BMW's inventory should do well. $500 million is not only a waste of money, it doesn't benefit the car's purpose one bit as being a contender on the track to other high-performance sports cars.
They have to have it work with the Toyota Safety System and a boat load of other requirements. Thus the price.
...they are all very poor excuses, you don't need to be defending them especially considering you personally don't understand or want a stick
Like @Jeff Lange pointed out, Toyota is still dumping money into sticks and they even partnered up with Mazda who have successfully incorporated emergency stop into their manuals.
...still absolutely baffling considering both BMW & Mazda, both of which are partners with Toyota, are really the top 2 automakers who have already figured out how to incorporate these safety systems onto a powertrain with a stick.. Plus, let's be real here, we're really only talking about automatic emergency braking, the rest like lane keeping & dynamic cruise control doesn't have any bearing on the transmission. I guess the concern people have with a stick + emergency braking is merely stalling out but who cares if the car stalls if it is trying to save your ass...Mazda has done it this way and I have yet to read of any issues..plus any experienced manual driver will slam on both the clutch + brakes in an emergency..
