[TusharK]

Maruti Suzuki's first automated manual transmission (AMT) equipped model was introduced back in 2014. Ever since, it has seen a steep rise in the sales of cars equipped with such transmissions. This growing popularity may soon force the carmaker to ramp up its AMT production.



CV Raman, Senior Executive Director - Engineering, Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) has told the media that within 1-2 years, the company will have to increase its production capacity and may even have to shift the AMT production to a new plant.

According to a media report, in FY2015-16, AMT contributed to 3.5% of Maruti's total volumes, which doubled to 7.5% in FY2017-18. Latest figures suggest that out of the total number of Celerio hatchbacks sold, 40% are equipped with AMT. Besides this, sales of the AMT versions of the Ignis and Dzire have also picked up, constituting about 20% each. Apart from the aforementioned models, Maruti offers AMT on the Alto K10, Swift and Wagon R.

Maruti is believed to have sold over 1 lakh AMT cars already and is aiming to sell 1.5 lakh units in the automatic transmission segment in FY2018. By 2020, this figure is expected to rise to 3 lakh units. According to reports, the market for automatic transmission models is expected to rise from 4-5% in 2015-16 to 30% by the year 2020.

Source: The Economic Times

Link to Team-BHP News

[ACM]

They of course just mean that they expect to sell more cars with AMT. The production of AMT mechanism itself will need to be ramped up by MM (The FIAT group company) Magneti Marelli from whom they procure it.

[abhijeet080808]

On one hand, we have reports of AMTs not being reliable, specially on the 1.0L Alto and Celerio. Typically, jerkiness start developing at around 10k kms leading to replacement of the clutch pack by 20k kms.

On the other hand, we have Maruti offering the AMT on almost all of their products including flagships like Swift and DZire. Hopefully, those units will be robust and long lasting. Else, it will lead to a whole generation of car buyers swearing off AMTs along with hurting Maruti's reputation in the process.

[Col Mehta]

Hope they also work on the drivability of these boxes. The new Dzire with AMT does poorly. Jerky and lethargic. Very disappointing. The fuel efficiency of AMT is brilliant though.

[Yieldway17]

Hope they either refine these AMTs to address the problems already faced by few of their customers or change to a provenly better technology like torque converter or CVT. I personally think AMTs are going to be a dead end for them to invest too much into, better the earlier they migrate to conventional technologies.

[GTO]

Got to hand it to Maruti's well-oiled machinery. At a time when others are sitting on idle capacity and moving to exports to just use their installed capacity, here is a carmaker actually talking about growth.

Originally Posted by abhijeet080808

On one hand, we have reports of AMTs not being reliable, specially on the 1.0L Alto and Celerio. Typically, jerkiness start developing at around 10k kms leading to replacement of the clutch pack by 20k kms.

Agreed. I personally could never live with an AMT and would pick a torque-converter / CVT competitor over it. It's just too jerky for my tastes.

Originally Posted by Yieldway17

provenly better technology like torque converter or CVT.

Can't get a conventional slushbox for under 50,000. That's the main reason behind the AMT's popularity. Of course, it's also easy to implement on any engine as it is just a bolt-on. Otherwise, a new gearbox has to be developed from the ground up and tuned for each engine's power characteristics.

[meetgds]

Now that more and more Indians are getting a taste of automatics (even if its an AMT), the number of potential automatic buyers has risen for sure. A good number of those might be willing to pay the extra for a proper AT/CVT.