[TusharK]

According to Maruti Suzuki, it has sold over 6 lakh cars fitted with automatic transmissions.



Out of the 6 lakh cars sold, more than 5 lakh vehicles were equipped with the Auto Gear Shift (AGS) automated manual transmission. In FY2018-19, the carmaker sold over 2 lakh units of automatic vehicles.

At present, Maruti Suzuki offers 12 models with different automatic transmissions like Automated Manual Transmission (AMT), Automatic Transmission and Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). The Alto K10, S-Presso, WagonR, Celerio, Ignis, Swift, Dzire and Vitara Brezza come with AMT, while the Ertiga, Ciaz and XL6 get an automatic gearbox. The Baleno is offered with CVT.

Link to Team-BHP News

[SpideyBoy]

Most of these vehicles are the ones used for daily commute and it's very obvious the customer is moving towards automatics to have a hassle free ride in this ridiculous traffic.

Slightly OT, this is what surprises me as why Tata fails to grab this point and launch automatics from the word go. Launching one when the interest fades away doesn't make sense at all.

[wheelguy]

• Maruti Suzuki total domestic sales volume during the last 5 financial years is 76,27,794 units. (* refer past data for figures)

• Domestic sales volume of AT equipped cars during the same period plus a part of current fiscal is 6,00,000 units.

• Percentage contribution of ATs to total sales is 7.86%.

7.86%, Tatas might be seeing this as an insignificant number whereas other manufacturers might be seeing it as an insignificant but growing number.

Tatas should seriously consider ATs, they can't/shouldn't wait for the numbers to become significant and then jump. Catch-up strategy might work for Maruti but not for Tata.

Quote from ET Auto:

The automaker also claims that its automatic vehicles are popular particularly in markets like Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and Chennai.

Also I think most (*not all, but most) of our forum members are from the top tier-cities, and so our forum's collective opinion might be a bit biased towards the preferences of top-tier cities of India.

* Note, the percentage calculation is just a rough approximation used for illustration, actual calculation might or might not vary.

[KL01toKA03]

Originally Posted by wheelguy

• Percentage contribution of ATs to total sales is 7.86%.

7.86%, Tatas might be seeing this as an insignificant number whereas other manufacturers might be seeing it as an insignificant but growing number.

One reason this percentage isn't higher is because not all cars have an AT option. Harrier, Eeco, Bolero, Triber, Etios are some examples.

Also, ATs are more convenient to people from cities with high traffic density.

It will be interesting to see the percentage of AT vehicles (only vehicles with AT options considered) in cities with bad traffic, and to see how the sales have (or not) improved in the last few years.

[manjunathkl]

I came across a series of ads by Maruti Suzuki to push Automatic cars:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GALf0c53TYM

There are lot more on the official YouTube channel, they are running paid ads aswell.

Siddharth Vinayak Patankar has been roped in. Makes sense, an experienced auto reviewer is surely a subject matter expert.

Maruti has 3 automatic techs on offer in India:

1. AGS (AMT)
2. CVT
3. 4-Speed TC

None of these are ground breaking in today's standards. I appreciate them for shooting these ads like infomercials to make the Aam Admi aware of different Automatic tech. More auto makers must educate their consumers like this. Having said that, they have also withheld any of the disadvantages in each of these tech. E.g. In the CVT ad, no mention of rubber band effect. In AGS ad, no mention of jerkiness. Infact, something opposite is promised - like "You will have enough power whenever you need it" for CVT. "You will get a smooth ride" for AGS. Any novice switching from Manual transmission will notice these downsides very soon. If they were shot like any other ad, it was OK, but when you shoot an ad in an infomercial style (that too using a recognized auto reviewer) and you withhold its primary disadvantages, it is borderline misleading. People who have watched Siddarth's old reviews expect that if any downsides are there he will mention it. But clearly, that is not the case here.


Being a market leader by a large margin, what is the need for Maruti to get into such deception?

[bipinbn]

We own a Celerio AMT which is a daily driver for my dad . My parents have not yet complained about the jerkiness in the car.

Since our first automatic car is an AMT we dont have a reference to compare about how good the automatic car experience is with DSG or TC boxes.

I think its the same case with most of Maruthi's AGS/AMT vehicle customers and this number will grow.

With all the tech available there is lot of room for bettering the AMT boxes to increase the smoothness of the shifts and shifting speeds. Considering the price sensitive segment they are here to stay till the EV's take over fully.

[manjunathkl]

Originally Posted by bipinbn

Since our first automatic car is an AMT we dont have a reference to compare about how good the automatic car experience is with DSG or TC boxes.

Yes, only when you compare it with other Auto Tech, you will notice AMT jerky, whenever AMT upshifts, there is a head-nod - there is a sudden deceleration before the new gear is engaged and the car picks up again. This is an inherent disadvantage of AMT and not AGS in particular.

CVTs have no shift shock at all since it doesn't have a finite set of gears.

TC/DCT boxes have a mild shift shock but it is too mild to notice. In some of the expensive TCs, one cannot notice the gear changes unless he/she is watching the tachometer.

Originally Posted by bipinbn

I think its the same case with most of Maruthi's AGS/AMT vehicle customers and this number will grow.

With all the tech available there is lot of room for bettering the AMT boxes to increase the smoothness of the shifts and shifting speeds. Considering the price-sensitive segment they are here to stay till the EV's take over fully.

Absolutely true, AMTs are going to stay for a long time and it is a welcome change. It is the most cost-effective auto technology. I was only pointing that an infomercial should convey all aspects of that tech in detail. A 15-second ad can skip all the details it doesn't matter. But an infomercial cannot.