some people either can't drive a stick, or choose not to. sometimes a stick isn't any fun at all when your commute includes traffic, stop lights, etc. the autostick gives people who don't want to put up with stick an opportunity to enjoy the crossfire.

as an aside, Mercedes is highly known for their automatic transmissions, and not so much for their 6-speed. the 5-speed auto is rated something like top 3 or top 5 among automatics and the manual doesn't even rate among the top 20 clutch gearboxes. ever notice how ALL Mercedes high end AMG cars are autos? Mercedes philosophy is "its a LUXURY car, it should shift FOR you."