Don't rain on my parade!
I actually think this could be one of Mazda's 'weaknesses'. You look at a similar company like Subaru and they've done well by embracing the fringe, embracing being different (though they are progressively moving mainstream as they've built market share).
Mazda needs to get their diesel to North America, keep designing some of the best looking vehicles out there, and embrace fringe drivers that like things like wagons and manual transmissions etc.
Eat up all the market share VW lost from TDI fanatics, support us loons who like wagons, the enthusiasts who want manuals, the affordable sports car junkies that have made the Miata the best selling sports car in history. Embrace your core strengths.
No raining at all (lol)
Subaru embraces the fringe but they don't sell many cars here. So that's not a good solution
Since Mazda is a small independent(ish) company, they can't do everything they want and the lack of manual availability is probably related to this