Volkswagen to phase out manual transmissions by 2030 – report

The three-pedal layout is on its last legs in Wolfsburg, with new reports pointing to the manual gearbox’s death in new Volkswagens by 2030.

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The Volkswagen brand will phase out manual transmissions by the end of this decade, according to a new report from well-sourced German magazine Auto Motor und Sport.

Citing company insiders, the outlet claim increasing costs, low customer demand, and the shift to electrification as the primary factors responsible for the move. Drive’s own sources suggest the timeline laid out in the article is accurate.

Volkswagen currently offers just two passenger models in Australia with a manual option: the Polo city hatchback and Golf small hatchback. The Amarok dual-cab ute, along with the brand’s commercial vans, can also be had with three pedals.

A spokesperson for the company locally told Drive: “We’re quite advanced on this front – here, manuals make up in the low single digits as a percentage of total sales.”

By 2030, Volkswagen claims electric cars will account for approximately 70 per cent of sales in Europe, and half of all sales in the USA and China. Few electric vehicles have more than one gear ratio, and manual transmissions are extraordinarily rare.

It is unclear if the wider 14-marque Volkswagen Group will be subject to the move. However, a spokesperson for Porsche has previously suggested the sports car brand would continue to offer a three-pedal layout in select models for as long as it was viable.  

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