The news that the manual gearbox will become a thing of the past in Europe will surely sadden some Mercedes car enthusiasts. A spokesman for Mercedes confirmed this information to Automobilwoche, saying that the decision will be implemented gradually, which was hinted at two years ago, all with the aim of reducing costs.

“Given the development of electrification, we have noticed that demand is shifting to components of electric mobility, batteries and (partly) electric propulsion systems,” a Mercedes spokesman said.

Currently, Mercedes in Europe offers the A-Class, B-Class and CLA with manual transmission. The decision to withdraw cars with manual gearboxes from the offer in other parts of the world (such as the USA) was made a few years ago. Of course, all electric EQ cars have an automatic gearbox like most electric cars in the world. Also, more expensive AMG models traditionally come with automatic transmissions.

Mercedes has not said the exact deadline for the cessation of manual transmission offerings, but some (like the Stuttgarter Zeitung) believe this could happen in 2023. This could mean that the new A-Class will only be available with an automatic transmission, as will the new B-Class and CLA models.

Source: Mercedes-Benz