The Nissan Z Nismo may not be the fastest sports car on the block, but the two-door has always been very good at delivering plenty of smiles for the dollar especially in its range-topping Nismo trim.

Part of this is due to the manual transmission which was always a hallmark item for the Z in past iterations. However, the company chose to rollout the newest Nismo with only one transmission option, a nine-speed automatic. Customers were not pleased and Nissan has finally chosen to fix this flaw once and for all.

Nissan waves white flag on manual transmission

The confirmation came during an interview that the Auto News podcast was hosting with Nissan Americas chairman Christian Meunier. Meunier chose to issue a direct confirmation during the interview stating “We have a NISMO manual transmission coming.”

The exec’s statement didn’t go much further than that but Meunier’s statement does point to a shift in marketing strategy for the model with the Z Nismo’s advertising originally putting a strong focus on the nine-speed automatic and its contributions to the Z’s better fuel economy figures. The Nismo is powered by the same 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 found in lesser Zs but the Nismo variant gets 420 hp and a uite of performance upgrades. The addition of the stick will undoubtedly allow drivers to have more control over the driving experience.

But will consumers actually buy it?

Nissan’s announcement is a win for driving enthusiasts but the company will also undoubtedly run into the same basic question that has dogged other automakers (including Nissan itself) for years, will people buy it?

This partially due to the buying habits of younger buyers, with most of them preferring automatic equipped vehicles over their manual counterparts. However, while this is still true for the most part, Nissan’s move actually has some precedent with a growing pool of Gen Z buyers showing interest in purchasing manual-equipped cars.

This generation of buyers grew up with a high degree of automation and technology in their daily lives and this strong exposure to tech has led more of them to see out more analog experiences including manual transmissions. Sales have ticked upward as a result, with JD Power saying manual equipped vehicles made up 1.7% of vehicle sales in 2023. Nissan is hoping some of these buyers will find their way to the Nismo and give the company much needed sales.