Bye bye manual gearbox

[Guzzle]

It's been coming for a while now, so maybe not a major surprise...

https://www.motor1.com/news/529477/vw-gradual-elimination-manual-gearbox/

[karlos]

Not a surprise at all. When I first started driving autos were 3 or 4 speed slushboxes which were slow and poor on fuel. You only got an auto if you were elderley, drove a huge executive barge or didn't have the skill to operate a manual gearbox.

Now we have cars with 7 speeds that can shift in the blink of an eye and offer better economy and acceleration than any manual. They probably would have been adopted quicker if it hadn't been for the terrible image problem that old autos had.

I still often miss the enagagement of driving a manual though.

[fredgroves]

By 2030 of course they are eliminated... Ice propulsion is eliminated then in the uk...

[Guzzle]

VW sells plenty cars outside the UK. They also build plenty in places like South America and China, where the take up of electric vehicles may not be quite as regimented as it is in Blighty.

[fredgroves]

I read a thing only the other day that last year was the first time more autos than manuals were sold in the uk...

[Rudedog]

There's a DAP video on YouTube doing a comparison of the Mk8 R that's going to the US soon, apparently all of the R's will be defaulted as manuals with the DSG only as an option.