Hey, remember that rumor from Automotive News about the 2010 Nissan Maxima Diesel getting a stick and nothing else? According to Motive, Nissan engineers have told them that, for now, the Maxima will likely only come in automatic form... but that they could throw in a manual. It looks like the answer to our question…

Nissan just picked up a few points in our book for reversing the trend and announcing that the 2010 Nissan Maxima Diesel will be offered only with a manual cog-swapper, just in time for the oil-fueled American Civil War of 2009. Why Nissan's avoiding the large, slow-footed market after the jump.