German, late 30s. Automatic cars are rather uncommon in Germany, we sure like our manuals. Not being able to push my car into high RPMs when needed to overtake or accelerate quickly takes the fun out of driving. I'd never switch to automatic as long as I still have both arms and legs. And yes I know kickdowns are a thing, but it really doesn't compare.
Also in the past if you did your driver's licence in an automatic car, you could then only drive automatic cars with that licence. But if you took the test in a manual car you could drive both.