Ford doesn't really care about the sports sedan enthusiasts right now. They have the Mustang. Why should they spend more money developing a manual trans for a car that has such a low profit margin already? Ford does own half of Mazda, and Mazda has the sport sedan market with the 3/6. Asking the 500 to be sporty just isn't going to happen. Yes, it's a pig, but those Japanese sedans aren't light-weight anymore either.
The 3rd Gen SHO helped doom sports sedan in Ford's eyes for a while. Yes, no manual trans option could have hurt it to the eyes of a real enthusiast, but how many enthusiasts compared to SUV/Minivan soccer mom buyers are there? Very few. Ford is looking out for the bottom line, because competition is bigger, and profits are slimmer. I would not dare call the Camry sporty. It's got quite a bit of body roll, and the Maxima is over-priced. Who buys a Maxima when they can get it in rear-drive with a more powerful engine at nearly the same price? I think Lincoln should make a RWD version of the 500 with the 3.5 Duratec. That is what will most likely happen IF anything does.
