There really isn’t much point to manuals anymore anyway. I understand the “driving pleasure” argument, but that doesn’t count in SUVs, which regardless of gearbox aren’t actually sporty or engaging to drive in the first place. There’s very few outliers to that, and even those still drive better with DCTs.
The old downside of economy doesn’t count anymore either, with DCTs (don’t know how far torque converter automatics have come) being pretty much as economic as manual cars.
I’ve been a vivid defender of manual cars, and i think they still have their place in cars like MX5s, Porsche etc (sports cars) – but for the majority of people/cars, it’s kinda dated.