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Volkswagen has cancelled development of a 10-speed dual-clutch transmission. Friedrich Eichler, head of powertrain development for the Volkswagen Group, confirmed the project's demise with Automotive News on the sidelines of last month's International Vienna Motor Symposium. Eichler told the industry publication, "Two months ago, I had the prototype crushed".

To help it get from A to B a car’s engine sucks in air and some fuel, combusting the two to generate rotating motion, which is then transferred to the wheels via a transmission. Not that long ago choosing between transmissions was easy: manual or automatic. Those who prioritised value, fuel economy, performance or driving pleasure went for manuals, while everyone else chose automatics. Simple.

Volkswagen is recalling around 91,000 cars in Japan due to potential problems with the company's dual-clutch (DSG) automatic gearboxes, less than two months after more than 384,000 cars were recalled in China for a similar issue. A Volkswagen spokesperson told Reuters the gearbox problems related to the seven-speed transmission were due to Japan's hot and wet climate, extreme stop-start traffic and pollution typical of some Asian cities.