It was a good run.But Volkswagen’s long romance with the manual transmission is about to end in the United States. Beginning with the 2027 model year, the VW Jetta GLI will no longer offer a six-speed manual gearbox, leaving the German automaker without a single shift-it-yourself model in its American lineup. The automaker had already deleted manuals from its most fahrvergnügen models, the Golf GTI and Golf R, when the pair were refreshed for 2025. That left the Jetta GLI as the brand’s sole remaining three-pedal car in North America.VW confirmed the change in statements to several outlets, blaming a general dearth of demand for stick shifts despite the support of a vocal cohort of enthusiasts. “As drivers and car enthusiasts, we appreciate manuals too,” a Volkswagen spokesperson said, according to Car and Driver. “Even so, global demand continued to narrow to a point where the market can no longer sustain it.” The cabin of the Jetta GLI.’ expand='That makes the 2026 Jetta GLI the very last manual-transmission VW sold in the US. Buyers can choose between the six-speed manual and seven-speed DSG dual-clutch automatic, both paired with VW’s familiar 228-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine.While the DSG-equipped GLI is quicker—Car and Driver clocked the automatic at 5.6 seconds to 60 mph—the manual is central to the car’s enthusiast appeal.What we will no longer get from VW in the US.Automakers across the board have continued to replace manuals with some flavor of automatic transmission, whether torque converter, CVT, or dual-clutch, most often in the name of manufacturing simplification and fuel economy. The list of models to still offer a stick in the US now number fewer than two dozen.VW sold more than 54,000 Jettas in the US last year, making it the brand’s third-best-selling vehicle behind the Tiguan and Atlas, but the number of manual takers from that total is unknown.
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