As Steve says some cars are now only available as automatics. The alternative to the Jag, or perhaps that should be the other way round, was the Maserati Ghibli. It is only available with an auto gearbox. I still lust after one but other than it being a good bit more expensive than the Jaguar XE it is also heavier and I did not like the fact that it uses a cast iron Jeep block, and also AWD is only available in the more expensive and much more powerful version (different motor altogether). This would have left me with a much higher annual tax bill.

I have to say that if I could have had the same specification as the XE in the Ghibli for about the same money, or a little more, I would have chosen the Ghibli.

Peter

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