I would hvae to agree with you SKIDs. I'm 31 and I would say 3/4 of my friends don't even know how to drive a manual or care to learn. I learned from the old man when I was 15 on a 1985 Mustang GT and have had only 1 auto car (explorer). Too me, I love driving a "sports car" with a manual.. makes it tons of fun!
ORIGINAL: SKiDs33t
This is my opinion so dont blast me if someone comes out with an official answer that is different.
I think there are several reasons the manual costs more:
1. Its a higher-end transmission used in the Viper, Corvette and more.
2. There are extra goodies that come with the manual. (ie track pak, rear-end, bright pedals)
3. Its the first Non-Viper Dodge Car to have one in a long time. Took some engineer some extra time to figure out how to make it work with the platform.
4. Face it, manuals just arent as common on consumer vehicles in the US these days. They are considered special equipment for performance enthusiasts.
Its amazing how many people Ive met lately that have no idea how to drive a stick. I learned to drive in an automatic Taurus, but it wasnt long before I learned to drive manual. But even in my generation, Im the exception to the rule. In the current generation it is even more rare to find someone with the ability. My first experience with a stick was my Aunts 85 Blazer w/ three-on-the-tree. But most of my training came from my assigned vehicle in Korea. It was a 1953 Duece and 1/2. Man I miss driving that truck. Too bad the Army as gotten rid of most of them, and converted the rest to automatics. I guess my point in all this is that stick shifting seems to be a dying art. Automatics are more common, convenient and now cheaper to build. Many new performace cars these days are going to the sequential gearboxes for faster shift times. It wont be long before the venerable stick goes the way of the dodo.