It's a fairly well known fact that the vast majority of Volkswagen Golf GTI models sold new in South Africa are specified with the brand's DSG transmission. But the manual option was always there, should you prefer.

That, however, appears to be about to change. Yes, the local arm of the Wolfsburg automaker seems to be poised to kill off the manual GTI in SA.

CAR deputy editor Terence Steenkamp is currently in Spain sampling the facelifted Golf 7, and he tells us that the GTI will not be offered with a manual cog-swapper when the refreshed range is launched locally in May.

VW has furthermore confirmed – as we reported earlier – that the Golf GTD will be added to the local line-up in July. This model, along with the updated Golf R, will also be available exclusively with an automatic transmission.

And the rest of the local range? Well, it will include two petrol engines (the 1,0 TSI and 1,4 TSI) and one diesel mill (the 2,0 TDI). Interestingly, the new, cleaner 1,5-litre TSI unit is not part of the line-up.

Original article from Car