There was a story somewhere (I can't find it now) about how a big part of the lack of car color options in the US is that consumers are used to buying cars directly off dealer lots.
According to the article, this makes the consumer into the customer of the dealer, and not the manufacturer. As such, the dealer is the manufacturer's true customer, and their demand is what drives production and availability.
The dealer, naturally, optimizes their inventory for the best sellers, which are generally grayscale colors, so that's what they order from the manufacturer. When the customer shows up, the limited choices often force compromises, which turn into statistics used to further optimize inventory.
The way out of this loop is for the customer to insist on the exact desired configuration.
The problem is that many (most?) people don't care enough to wait for three months instead of driving home in their new car the same day. This is further exacerbated by the dealer's willingness to offer a better deal on a car that's on the lot than one that has to be ordered.
I wouldn't be surprised if transmission availability plays into this to some extent, though probably not quite as much. After all, manuals are still generally cheaper in terms of MSRP, but dealer pricing may negate and even reverse that advantage.
Wait three months and pay list price in all probability if you order custom rather than take a car on the lot. Not always with high demand vehicles but I’ve always bought a car off the lot st a discount.
According to the article, this makes the consumer into the customer of the dealer, and not the manufacturer. As such, the dealer is the manufacturer's true customer, and their demand is what drives production and availability.
The dealer, naturally, optimizes their inventory for the best sellers, which are generally grayscale colors, so that's what they order from the manufacturer. When the customer shows up, the limited choices often force compromises, which turn into statistics used to further optimize inventory.
The way out of this loop is for the customer to insist on the exact desired configuration.
The problem is that many (most?) people don't care enough to wait for three months instead of driving home in their new car the same day. This is further exacerbated by the dealer's willingness to offer a better deal on a car that's on the lot than one that has to be ordered.
I wouldn't be surprised if transmission availability plays into this to some extent, though probably not quite as much. After all, manuals are still generally cheaper in terms of MSRP, but dealer pricing may negate and even reverse that advantage.