Toyota Is Now The Last Automaker Selling A Manual Pickup Truck In America For 2027
Toyota confirmed this week that the 2027 Tacoma stands alone as the only new pickup truck sold in America with a manual transmission option, following the Jeep Gladiator‘s departure from the stick-shift club at the end of 2024. For truck buyers who still want to row their own gears, there’s exactly one option left on dealer lots.
The manual isn’t a trim-wide offering, either. It’s limited to three specific configurations, and it comes with real tradeoffs in speed and fuel economy compared to the automatic. But for a certain kind of buyer, that’s beside the point.
Which Trims Still Offer A Stick Shift
The manual transmission is available as a no-cost option on just three Tacoma trims: SR, TRD Sport, and TRD Off-Road. It only comes paired with a Double Cab body, 4WD, and the 5-foot bed, so buyers can’t mix and match their way into a manual on a different cab or bed configuration.
Pricing starts around $39,150 before taxes and fees for the SR Double Cab, roughly $5,000 less than a similarly configured TRD Sport or TRD Off-Road. Choosing the manual also unlocks a stronger version of the i-Force four-cylinder: 270 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque, compared to 228 hp and 223 lb-ft in the automatic SR. That’s close to, but still a bit short of, the 278 hp and 317 lb-ft the 8-speed automatic makes in TRD trims.
What You Give Up By Rowing Your Own Gears
The manual’s power bump doesn’t translate into quicker acceleration. A manual Tacoma needs just over 7 seconds to hit 60 mph, compared to about 6.5 seconds for the automatic. Fuel economy also takes a small hit, landing at 18 mpg city, 23 highway, and 20 combined versus 19/24/21 for the automatic.
The bigger limitation is compatibility. The manual can’t be paired with the i-Force Max hybrid powertrain, which rules out a manual TRD Pro or Trailhunter entirely. Towing capacity doesn’t suffer, though, holding steady at 6,400 lbs across manual and automatic trucks alike. Toyota also built in some modern conveniences for the third pedal: automatic rev-match downshifting that engages every time the truck starts, plus a no-clutch launch mode meant for tight, technical trails.
Why Toyota Kept It And Everyone Else Walked Away
Automatics have simply gotten better. They’re quicker, more efficient in most cases, and easier to live with in daily driving, which is why manual take rates across the truck market have cratered over the past two decades. Trucks from Ford, Chevy, and Ram all moved on from stick shifts years ago, and the Gladiator‘s manual option didn’t survive past 2024.
Toyota’s decision to keep the manual on the base Tacoma and two mid-tier off-road trims suggests the company is targeting a narrow slice of buyers: contractors and off-roaders who value direct mechanical control over outright speed. It’s a low-volume option in a lineup that otherwise leans hard into hybrid power, and as emissions rules tighten further, there’s a real chance this generation of Tacoma is the last new pickup truck in America to offer a manual at all.
Whatever sales numbers the manual Tacoma pulls in, it’s unlikely to move the needle much for Toyota’s bottom line. But for buyers who still care about shifting for themselves, it’s worth taking the opportunity while it lasts.
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