Initially there was a big reason to go manual.
The automatics were (and sometimes still are) finicky, bulky, unreliable for the duration of the car.
Nowadays, this may not be the case anymore, with CVTs.
CVTs cost little, weigh little, and are easy to repair.
They only have 1 con, and that's low highway mileage.
For CVTs to get decent gas mileage, they have to make the engines rev really low at highway speeds.
I've seen 2.0 liter engines run at 1750RPM on the highway, at 75-80MPH! That's insanely low!
It wears out the CVT belt, these ratios.
Anyway, Manual is still the most reliable transmission to date, with many years of proven technology behind the belt.
Automatics are almost there. Give them another 5 years, and they would basically be just as reliable, if not overtaken by a CVT.
City cars work best with CVT. No reason to get a manual car when you're in start stop traffic.
Manuals are great for suburbs (longer 35+ MPH roads), and highways.
I don't know the trend, but in many states, even highways are starting to look like city, with all those traffic jams.
If I had a hybrid, I would be most happy!
A CVT for the first 2 or 3 gears, and the rest manual.