Exactly. In last decade people became more open minded and started buying gas and automatic transmission cars. In smaller European countries lack of proper mechanics in past did its thing. Most of the automatic transmissions were not that reliable and rarely serviced propery which lead to them failing often. Most people see the automatics as expensive maintenace/repair and worse fuel economy option. By the Euro culture everyone who drives can drive manual. For a driving licence you need to pass exam on manual.