Volkswagen still keen on having buyers put themselves into gear

Volkswagen has expressed its support for the manual gearbox in the long-term after unveiling the all-new Golf GTI with three-pedals last month.

“Some people enjoy going back to their roots and changing gear manually, and so long as there is a demand, we will continue to offer them,” Wolfsburg’s Technical Development Operations Head, Matthias Rabe, was quoted by Britain’s Autocar as saying.

In spite of committing to the ‘box, South Africa won’t be receiving the forthcoming eighth generation Golf with a manual transmission as not only the GTI, but also the incoming R and ‘regular’ 1.4 TSI will be fitted as standard with a DSG.

Last year, sister brand Audi announced that manual ‘boxes no longer formed part of its South African product plans in spite of the A1, A4 and more recently the new A3 offering buyers the option of rowing through the ratios themselves in Europe.

“We don’t have any manual (models) left in our (product range) and we won’t have any in future either. Automatic ‘boxes have become so sophisticated that you don’t need a manual anymore. That is the way we have decided to move our product portfolio to complete automatic ‘boxes,” Audi South Africa Local Operations Head, Trevor Hill, said.

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