A method for determining numbers of gear steps N for a gearbox in a motor vehicle. The vehicle has an engine connected to drive the gearbox. The numbers of gear steps N is the number of downshifts or the number of upshifts which the gearbox effects at an upshift point or a downshift point. A downshift point represents a first engine speed at which the gearbox effects a downshift. An upshift point represents a second engine speed at which the gearbox effects an upshift. The numbers of gear steps N are determined on the basis of a predicted acceleration a for the motor vehicle during a time period T. The invention relates also to a system, a motor vehicle, a computer program and a computer program product thereof for performing the method.