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2019 Audi A4, A5 Lose Manual Transmission Option In the United States

Just like Ferrari and Lamborghini, even mainstream automakers are losing interest in the good ol’ stick shift. This time around, Audi pulled off the manual transmission option from the A4 and A5 in the United States of America, leaving the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic to soldier on by its own.
2019 Audi A4 25 photos
Photo: Audi
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Before the 2019 model year rolls into dealerships later in the year, customers in the market for the six-speed manual can hope to get one straight from the dealer lot with Quattro all-wheel drive and the 252-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder engine. Six-cylinder options are dual-clutch only.

So why did Audi kill off the standard transmission from the A4 and A5? Speaking to Car & Driver, the Ingolstadt-based manufacturer “is citing low consumer demand as the reason for killing the stick-shift option.” To the point, five percent of A4 customers in the United States have chosen the six-speeder over the seven-speed transmission.

With Audi and Mercedes-Benz out of the way, BMW is the only remaining option out of the Big Three from Germany with a manual in the United States of America. Certain version of the 2, 3, and 4 Series are available with a six-speeder, to which you can add the Genesis G70, Cadillac ATS, and Jaguar F-Type.

Speaking about sportier alternatives, don’t forget that pony and muscle cars continue to offer the good ol’ stick shift to those who prefer to row their own gears. Unfortunately, the Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye isn’t available with one. But on the upside, the Camaro ZL1 with the 1LE Track Package comes with the MH3 manual from Tremec.

Lower down the spectrum, fans of the Volkswagen Group can specify the Golf and Jetta with a six-speed stick shift. That’s right; even the all-new Jetta comes standard with a manual! The soon-to-be-revealed Jetta GLI with Golf GTI-rivaling performance is also expected to keep the manual transmission alive and kicking in this part of the world.

What do you think about automakers veering away from manual to focus solely on automatic transmissions? Could it be that research & development cost-cutting is getting too drastic, even at the lower end of the market?
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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