Maybe you already knew this, but I missed it somehow: the new 2019 Jeep Renegade does not have a manual option. I am sorry that this little update managed to slip under my radar, but I was very upset by it when I found out today when trying to spec out a manual Renegade on the Jeep website.
This detail accompanied news that the new Renegades would have an all-new, 1.3-liter turbocharged engine, good for 177 horsepower and 210 lb-ft of torque, according to a press release. It went on to say that all models would utilize a nine-speed automatic transmission.
The Renegade was one of the last little, chuckable cheap cars that you could get with a six-speed manual. That made it a great option for people who wanted something a little more on the practical side but also still could maintain some degree of analog control. But that is no more, sadly.
Look, I’m sure that the new Renegade is perfectly fine and capable, but I am disheartened by the loss all the same. A Jeep rep responded that the reason the automaker got rid of the option was because it just didn’t make any financial sense. “The manual only represented a very small take rate in previous years,” they wrote.
It’s the same story across the board: Nobody is buying the manuals, so automakers discontinue them because there’s no gain. I can yell about it as much as I want on this site, but if there’s no money coming in from them, then more and more manual options are going to depart.
At least there’s still that manual Corolla. Please go buy one right now. Tell them I sent you.