Volkswagen Committed To Keeping Manual Gearboxes Alive

While a very large portion of today’s vehicles are only available with automatic transmissions, Volkswagen is among the car brands that pledged to keep stick shifts around for as long as there is demand.

The reassuring comment was made to Autocar by the company’s tech chief Matthias Rabe, who said: “Some people enjoy going back to their roots and changing gear manually, and so as long as there is demand, we will continue to offer them.”

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Among the cars available with a clutch pedal is the new Golf GTI. The people’s compact hot hatchback was presented last month, alongside its diesel and PHEV siblings, the GTD and GTE, and is offered with a six-speed manual as standard. Those who are not fond of manual gear shifting can opt for the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, which is found on the options list.

The 2020 Golf GTI stays true to the classic recipe that made it famous originally, and packs a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. The lump will also be used by the rumored Golf TCR, which is expected with 295 PS (291 HP / 217 kW). The Golf GTD and Golf GTE, on the other hand, are only available with two pedals.

Other performance-oriented models from the Volkswagen stable that come with a good ol’ stick shift are the Up! GTI and Polo GTI. The German automaker will soon expand the lineup with the R versions of the Arteon and Tiguan, although these are expected to be offered with automatic transmissions, like the Touareg R plug-in hybrid, which boasts a combined output of 462 PS (455 HP / 340 kW) and comes with an eight-speed auto and AWD.