Phil

Thank you for contacting Audi of America and for your interest in the
A3. While it's not possible to certify every engine/transmission
combination for the US market, we are proud of the expansion effected in
the A3 family. Since 2008, the new, freshened A3 has been available
with quattro all-wheel drive and our fast-shifting S tronic dual clutch
transmission. This year, we further enhanced the A3 by making S line
exterior standard and added 2.0 TDI engine, with fuel economy of 30=city
/ 42=highway.

As metro areas, where most of our products are sold, grow in traffic
congestion, and as a result of the technological improvements in
automatic transmissions, we see an increasing trend toward the latter.
This means, of course, a corresponding decline in manual transmission
preferences. Adding a manual derivative to a model line is not a
simple matter of "dropping a manual" into the vehicle; it involves a
number of changes that must be studied, tested, approved-really like
adding a new model.

While we regrettably don't have the power train of your choice available
at this time, we hope that some of the recent additions to the A3
provide you with some strong alternatives worth considering. We
appreciate your taking the time to tell us of your preferences, and you
may be sure that we will continue to keep a close eye on trends here in
the U.S., and will plan our future lines with those trends in mind.

Kris Hansen

I used to be a manual only person too, but as I get older, I don't mind not having to use the clutch most of the time.

Certain cars are better than others when manual (S cars, R8, etc) but in all honesty, the dual clutch transmissions are very good, I don't miss the 3rd pedal, and they certainly aren't slushy like old school torque converter automatics..

But obviously YMMV.