Mercedes-AMG hasn’t offered manual transmissions for any of its models for many years and now it has emerged that BMW could go down the same path.
While recently speaking with Autocar, BMW M boss Frank van Meel revealed that due to declining sales figures, the German marque’s high-performance division may have to stop producing manual ‘boxes altogether in favour of its quicker-shifting and more advanced dual-clutch transmission.
“From a technical standpoint, the future doesn’t look bright for manual gearboxes. The DCT and auto ’boxes are faster and they have better fuel consumption. It’s difficult to say we’ll stick to the manual, but we still have a big fan community for manuals and we are not going to take away something the customer wants to have,” Van Meel said.
Beyond suggesting that the future of manual transmissions isn’t certain, Van Meel also said that 600 hp could become the limit for BMW M models.
“For now, 600bhp is the most you can get in an M car. We’re at the limit. If you go on adding more horsepower and torque, it’d probably be over the limits,” he said.
[Via Autocar]
