All engines will be offered with both six-speed manual gearboxes and optional eight-speed automatics.

Ken Kincses ANSWER Sedans and manual gearboxes are decidedly out of fashion these days, as swathes of buyers insist on automatic SUVs.

Ford SA has issued out a call recalling vehicles fitted with manual gearboxes as they could be at risk of a "'clutch pressure plate fracture".

Cost cutting and efficiency measures include eliminating manual gearboxes, and slashing the variety of combustion engines on offer by 70% by 2030.

Manual gearboxes made a brief appearance but had practically no takers.

Manual gearboxes are cheaper, and as a dad I'd compel my daughter to learn in one: more concentration on driving, less on the music playlist.