Not really everyone wants to afford an automatic car if they just use it for a commute. Manual cars suck in rush hour traffic. For off road 4×4 vehicles and other utility vehicles, a good 6 speed manual, with a transfer case with low range and a set of locking differentials offers you the ability to get pretty much anywhere and is much less complicated than some electronic 4 wheel drive system.
However if you do your licence test in an automatic car, you get a license that only allows you to drive automatics. So almost everyone does their test in a manual car, and knows how to drive manual at some point.
Not really everyone wants to afford an automatic car if they just use it for a commute. Manual cars suck in rush hour traffic. For off road 4×4 vehicles and other utility vehicles, a good 6 speed manual, with a transfer case with low range and a set of locking differentials offers you the ability to get pretty much anywhere and is much less complicated than some electronic 4 wheel drive system.
However if you do your licence test in an automatic car, you get a license that only allows you to drive automatics. So almost everyone does their test in a manual car, and knows how to drive manual at some point.