The third pedal is disappearing faster than it seemed. By the end of 2026, several enthusiast cars in the U.S. will either leave the market or lose their manual version — and this isn’t a string of unrelated headlines, it’s a pattern. The headline example is the Volkswagen Jetta GLI. Starting with the 2027 model year, the sedan will be offered only with the 7-speed DSG dual-clutch, while the 2026 version becomes the last new Volkswagen sold with three pedals on the American market. An era is closing quietly, without any loud announcements.
The list also includes the Toyota GR Supra and the BMW Z4. Both platform siblings are built at the Magna Steyr plant in Austria — and together they’re wrapping up the life cycle of the current generation, with no confirmed successor in sight. For the Supra the sting is sharper: the six-cylinder version with a 6-speed manual arrived late, but it was the one that gave the car its more “analog” character back. Now it all goes out in a single package.
The Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing is close to the finish line as well. The current sedan with its 6.2-liter supercharged V8 producing 668 hp and a manual gearbox will bow out together with the current CT5 generation — production winds down by the end of 2026. Cadillac has promised the next generation will stay combustion-powered, but whether a three-pedal version returns remains an open question. With the BMW M3 the picture is now almost clear: the current G80 is still in showrooms, but the next-generation G84 will almost certainly drop the classic manual, and its final torchbearer will be the limited M3 CS Handschalter for the 2027 model year, built exclusively for North America.
