embit14

Driving an automatic is pure BLAH! I am bummed more of these aren't available in a manual option..Driving is just gonna get more boring!

arU4ic

This actually brings-up a good point, we know that Germany likes to sell us (the US) cars, but think we all SUCK at driving (and if you look around just a little when you drive, it's hard to argue)… is it possible that clutch life on this car is crazy-bad… and would be worse so in the US. (maybe avoiding recall issues?)

I know manual sales are down, just a second thought.

irenesbob

I believe manual transmissions are soon to be a thing of the past with the possible exception of a few makes and models. One of the reasons is that manufacturers need to achieve mpg numbers for the various governments (the US is not the most demanding) and DSG’s, automatics, CVT’s do better than stick shifts. Another is consumer preference and the desire to make cars bullet proof and warranty-able for many years and miles which consumers demand.
For perspective: When I was 18 (1960) my grandfather got a new Chevy BelAir that he had ordered and had to wait a long time for. He ordered it so he could delete or not get the following options that to him were either (or both) “unmanly” or a Communist conspiracy to weaken Americans: automatic transmission, power steering, power brakes, power windows and air conditioning. He balked at the radio as a distraction from the job at hand but my grandmother won that battle (she wanted to listen to Arthur Godfrey during vacation trips to national parks). He felt there was a sweeping weakness taking the country and that the socialists would eventually take over entirely and cause the American male to decay. He was fighting for his rights as an individual. Of course, at the time I thought he was simply out of his mind.
I see a parallel in the many who decry the move to other-than-manual transmissions. End of rant.