It’s no secret that fewer and fewer vehicles are available on the market with manual transmissions. This trend has also reached both high and low-end sports models, why? At some point we did not know how to understand if it was due to performance issues, nostalgia, enthusiasm, etc. But now, with Volkswagen, everything seems to indicate that it is due to environmental issues.
And it is that the Wolfsburg house is considering withdrawing the variants with manual transmission in anticipation of the upcoming emission standard, Euro 7, which would force automakers to equip their cars only with automatic transmission, or double clutch in the case of Volkswagen . This has an immediate impact on the Volkswagen Golf Y GTI MKVIII, models that are in the process of updating (facelift), so this could be the last manual transmission leg of the darling hatchback.
“The next generation of the Golf will not have manual transmission options. With this we contribute to comply with the new and strict Euro 7 emission legislation”.
– Kai Grünitz, head of technical development at Volkswagen, in statements to Autocar.
Now, there are a couple of issues to clarify. The first is that it has not yet been defined whether this decision will affect North American models, where the GTI and Golf R are also offered with both transmissions, but the regulations are also strict, California for example.
The second is that the GTI & Golf R versions with the most demand in the US are really those equipped with DSG transmission, so the decision, at least on paper, would not have a great impact on Volkswagen; you would have to ask their enthusiastic fans.
Speaking of CO2, it has been found that the difference in emissions between engines coupled with a dual-clutch transmission versus a manual one is barely 2 g/km. It sounds little, but let’s multiply it by thousands of vehicles; It is an unacceptable figure for the new parameters of Euro 7 that enters into force by mid-2025, even with the rejection of several manufacturers and, attention! because this can result in an increase in costs.
Does this decision seem fair or logical to you? What type of transmission do you prefer for the Volkswagen Golf? Share your comments with us.
