Actually it really doesn't make any difference, plenty of European cars are automatics (usually the bigger ones), and it doesn't make it less easy to drive down twisty, narrow roads, the only difference is with an automatic you don't have to push a clutch pedal and change through foward gears yourself. So automatics are "easier" to drive, but then once you master a manual gearbox it becomes second nature anyway. And the advantage of manuals is that they accelerate faster.