Originally Posted by Mike-in-Orange

I've always been a fan of hot hatches, but in the States everyone thinks of hatchbacks as cheap entry level econoboxes. Some of that changed with the MINI being decidedly more upscale than hatchbacks of the past, and Audi sells a ton of A3s here in SoCal (I love that car) so I really like the MB is going the AMG route with the A Class.

As for the manual gear box thing, though, it's probably not going to happen. Technology has advanced so far with automatic boxes that they are often faster and deliver better fuel economy than manuals these days - and that NEVER used to be the case. And with fuel economy standards getting increasingly tough, it's no wonder you see fewer and fewer row your owns.