Manual Transmission is Here to Stay in America

Reports last week that the manual GTI wouldn’t be offered in Australia in 2019 stoked fears of manual lovers everywhere, even though it was just a brief interlude while the next GTI was being prepared. It was kind of like what VW America did with the Jetta GLI this year, so CarBuzz asked them what their plans were for the GTI.

“As things currently stand, the US market is due to have both DSG and manuals on the 2019 GTI,” Mark Gillies, VW USA product and tech communications director, told CarBuzz.

Australia’s Motoring published the initial reports claiming that the three-pedal model would be gone in 2019, but that they anticipated the return of the manual GTI with the arrival of the Mk8–expected as a model year 2019 in Germany, incidentally.

Its return was expected despite sales figures in Australia heavily favoring the DSG transmission. There, the two-pedal outsells the three by a factor of 9 to 1, according to Motoring. Here in America, meanwhile, the DSG still outsells the manual, but the split is much more even, at 60/40.

Back when it unveiling the Mk7.5 Golf, meanwhile, VW USA made a big deal of letting journalists drive manuals, promising that they were safe in the lineup, despite being the less popular option. So things are looking good for you if you own a “Save the Manuals” shirt.

[source: CarBuzz]

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