The recently launched 2024 Proton S70 may share its general architecture with the Geely Emgrand, but under its sheet metal, it's significantly different.

With a healthy 150 PS/226 Nm from its 1.5-litre turbocharged three-cylinder (shared with the Proton X50, X70, and X90) and Proton’s famed ride and handling chassis tweaks, you can surmise it's a pretty brisk sedan with sporting intentions.

So why hasn’t Proton thought of completing the package by offering a manual transmission for the more enthusiastic sort of buyers?

Speaking at the recent Proton S70 media drive, CEO of Proton Edar and Deputy CEO of Proton, Roslan Abdullah explained, “When we develop a car, it’s not as easy as just changing the transmission. We’ll need to look into the structure, testing, homologation, and Vehicle Type Approval (VTA). There's a lot of processes that involve cost.”

Also read: Here's how the 2024 Proton S70 retains its famed 'Ride and Handling', despite more power than Geely Emgrand base car

Roslan further quipped that one can even compare how many driving school students take the manual driver’s license today versus those who take the automatic license, alluding to the fact that there just aren’t enough manual drivers to justify selling a manual Proton S70.

However, the Proton S70 does offer a 7-speed DCT transmission with manual mode for more spirited driving.

Also read: Manual mode in the 2024 Proton S70 - Why is it left and right instead of up and down?

A missed opportunity some might say, but as everything goes in car making, it all comes down to cost and numbers.