[lunarhighway]

they do still have manual boxes in all their models though, maybe they think most American customers only want an automatic. i wonder why they chose the transparent grillblock though, on the a2 they had a gloss black panel covering most of the grill, later they changed it to something with a little more structure. but i think the gloss block looks particulary smart, it's one of the first production grillblocks i saw. even on such a big panel as the a1 it would look pretty cool. it would look exclusive, announce the will to change, but at the same time would not really visually impact the design of the front.

and it would cost all that much either, just use standard bumper plastic and paint it high gloss black, can't cost much more than an actual chromed grill, and in case someone scratched it it would be repainted or replaced separetely.