Alright, Nissan, you have my attention. In case you missed it, Nissan has announced it will be adding a manual gearbox to the Z Nismo, with the updated sports car debuting in January at the Tokyo Auto Salon alongside a mystery Nismo model. It's taken Nissan three years to give the Z Nismo a manual, with the automaker previously citing demand wasn't high enough to offer one from the get-go. But times have changed, Nissan is in dire straits, and it's now trying to hustle to rebuild the brand in any way it can.While on the one hand, it's leveraging partnerships with Mitsubishi for new models and looking to partner with other automakers, on the other, it's taking a page from Toyota's playbook and investing heavily in enthusiasts again. Nissan plans to double its range of Nismo models in the next few years from five to ten products globally, and reports suggest a return of the Nissan Skyline GT-R in the form of a RWD sports sedan with twin-turbo power and a manual transmission. That sedan might arrive in the US as the rumored Infiniti sports sedan.The manual Z Nismo is the opening shot in a salvo of performance offerings coming our way, and Nissan may have timed it perfectly. Capitalizing On The Death Of Its Main Manual Rivals Toyota Manual sports cars are somewhat of a dying breed, especially in this segment where the balance of power and performance often means an automatic is an easier fit. Demand at this price point ($40k+) also leans heavily towards the automatic side of things, at least compared to the affordable Miata/GR86 segment where the manual is still king. But there aren't many manual offerings around. The Toyota GR Supra was one of the few, and Toyota left it late in the game to introduce the manual there. It was joined shortly thereafter by a manual version of the BMW Z4 - its shared-platform cousin - and the two of them, along with the base Nissan Z, were three of the only manual, RWD sports cars around.But the GR Supra and Z4 ended production in March 2026, a deadline that was extended into the new calendar year only because of demand from the US market. And with those two vehicles leaving the market, Nissan stands to capitalize with a broader range of manual models that will now include the Z Nismo.BMW It's difficult to find breakdown of manual vs automatic sales figures for the BMW Z4, but the GR Supra sold more manuals in 2024 than it did automatics. The 2025 figures aren't in yet, but I suspect early demand for the manual may see that figure drop slightly. Still, that's a significant enough group of buyers for Nissan to cash in on. Nissan Z's Dominance Will Only Improve 2025 Nissan Z NismoThe Z has been a success story for Nissan in the US since its launch, and while it may have been criticized early on for its old bones and inherited twin-turbo V6, that hasn't stopped it from overtaking the Supra as America's turbocharged Japanese sports car of choice. it being America's most affordable 400-hp sports car probably helps, too.At the end of Q3 2025, the Z had more than double the market share of the Supra, selling 4,822 units in the time Toyota had sold 2,009 cars for the year. More impressive still was that while the Supra's sales were on a downward trajectory, down from 2,329 units at the same point in 2024, Nissan had more than doubled its sales compared to the 2,175 cars moved by Q3 2024. Just 1,603 Z4s have been sold at the end of Q3 2025, meaning Nissan has sold more than the Z4 and Supra combined for the year.With the Supra and Z4 out of the picture and a manual for the Z Nismo, Nissan could grow that market share even further in 2026. Why Did The Manual Take So Long? Ian Wright/CarBuzz/Valnet Given the stats about manual sales for the GR Supra, one has to wonder why Nissan took this long, especially when there was already a manual in the regular Z. The official line from Nissan was that it was unclear whether there was enough demand. But there's also the possibility that the manual couldn't comfortably handle the extra 34 lb-ft of torque on offer in Nismo form. We've seen this issue curtail our manual hopes and dreams in other performance cars, with the most recent example being the BMW M2 CS.Whatever the reasons for not giving the Z Nismo a manual, clearly, something has changed.The Supra's sales have likely been some indication, and we're pretty sure fans have made their thoughts clear, too. But maybe there's more at play. While the consensus is that the normal Z's manual will be adopted here, it's worth remembering that the 6-speed unit in use there is... old. It dates back several generations and is technically an advancement of the transmission from the 370Z. And it suffered the same frailties as it did in the 370Z, with crunchy first-second shifts even when nursing it. As much as it pains me to say it, the Z Nismo didn't need a lackluster 'box like that. Hopeful For Changes To Make It More Special Nissan I'm hoping Nissan's updated that transmission for duty here, not just to fix the shift quality, but to handle the extra torque. Nothing would upset fans more than neutering the Z Nismo with less torque just to give it a manual that isn't all that great. Nissan would, of course, need to justify the expense of an upgrade, but that might be a little easier to do now that we know of its plans for other models.There'd be no point investing that much just for the Z, which is sold in only a handful of markets globally. Toyota was able to invest in a manual for the Supra because it was, fundamentally, the same transmission used in a variety of BMWs including the M2, M3, and M4. Economies of scale made it possible.Nissan For Nissan, those economies of scale would come from launching more manual, RWD vehicles. I already mentioned the incoming GT-R reboot and accompanying Infiniti counterpart, which is slated to use the Z Nismo's twin-turbo V6; those could be the models that have justified the investment in upgrades, and by sharing these costs across three models, Nissan can reduce overall investment and give fans what they want.