It seems like the obvious solution is to use education and career experience to bring folks over that will support their economies. The side benefit will be relatively good cultural alignment. No need to bring race into this at all, just do the brain drain.

I am of the fuckcars persuasion myself, so while this economic policy is beyond stupid I can’t help but see a silver lining here.

Correct, I have not. But I also doubt Ford is intending to specifically copy the niche VW autostick from 50 years ago to appeal to such hypothetical customers. This is all getting a bit silly, we barely even have sedans and stations wagons anymore, we practically lost physical buttons and are stuck with privacy invading software, but somehow this silliness makes the cut?

I don’t see how it can be worthwhile without a clutch pedal though since that is the heart of the manual experience. This is just adding a handheld input that modifies the accelerator response in a way that seems to mimic the quirks of an entirely different mechanical system (that being the paddle style shifters of automatic transmissions, not actual manuals). These at least served some purpose by giving the driver more control over shift points. Now imagine you never drove a manual or used paddle shifters in the first place, which is becoming the norm.

I’ve driven manual cars, including a 328i for many years. I loved that 6 speed. But it was engaging because it was a mechanical necessity. Faking this entire experience seems absurd. It would be like adding vestigial pedals to a jet pack because you also happen to like riding bikes.