I agree but.. As a shift week commuter I must say I much prefer the automatic in terms of both convenience and comfort. I drive long stretches at a time and having to constantly switch gears manually quickly turns into an annoyance. Also eating food or doing something else with your right hand is so much easier when you have an auto.

But if I once were to buy a leisure car it would be manual without a doubt.

Do automatic cars even exist outside the US? I've never seen one in middle or eastern europe