[Parm]

here are few photos of cars manufactured in india but not sold here.

Maruti Suzuki India make these cars here but not offered to us indians, WHY?

because they are automatic transmission, and we indians dont want to buy a higher priced car over MT?

A-star (Celerio)
Alto
Swift
SX4
Grand Vitara

all are offered as AT in the UAE!

[PCS]

Superb Work Parm !

Appreciate your efforts. I agree with you. but you cant blame maruti for this !
Its we indians who have the sentiment that A/T is priced higher & its less fuel efficient.
But tomorrow if every one is buying A/T dont you think that the localization for this gearbox will be in high percentages because of the demand and we might get it to down to earth prices !!!
But atleast maruti can offer these Rear wiper & new colour for indian markets

[fx45]

very good topic
I really dont get the point why suzuki is not promoting automatics here, if proper marketing is done, it coudl sell very good in congested cities.

[hondadude]

Originally Posted by Parm

here are few photos of cars manufactured in india but not sold here.

Maruti Suzuki India make these cars here but not offered to us indians, WHY?

because they are automatic transmission, and we indians dont want to buy a higher priced car over MT?

Grand Vitara
!

I agree with your sentiment in general however GV AT is available in India.

[Holyghost]

Infact a very good point. People do think about automatics atleast when they upgrade from their existing ones. Suzuki should promote these even if they sell in mere numbers. I dont think it will cost them a bomb since they are already been manufactured here.

[avishar]

The SX4 centre console looks different.

[blackasta]

Hope something happens like the zen 3 door hatch order cancellation , and subsequent release of that batch as zen steel and carbon.

And then again I hope those cars are lapped up by customers in no time.

And MSIL boosted by the sales, releases these versions full time in India.

Just an optimistic chain of thoughts from my end on Diwali

[jkdas]

Parm; do you find difference in built quality too? According to my cousin, Hyundai cars sold in Middle East had pathetic built quality and hence the question.

[srikanths1]

Originally Posted by Parm

Maruti Suzuki India make these cars here but not offered to us indians, WHY?

because they are automatic transmission, and we indians dont want to buy a higher priced car over MT?

Quiet true... How many units of AT do you think MSIL can sell in india in the low end car segment. An AT version of A-Star might go upt 4.1 ~ 4.3L...Our indian public would rather buy an Swift than spend ~4.3L for an AStar. Typical indian brain. Given the B-B traffic in india(A/T in such conditions will lap up gas happily) and the soaring fuel price there will be very few takers if any in the lower end of the car segment for AT. Makes a perfect business for the company not to sell these AT's here. I think MSIL already failed after experimenting AT on Zen.
A/T's will make business sense the day Corolla is not a luxury car in India and when our roads and traffic are relatively organized which means a good cut down on wasted fuel due to bad traffic.

[arunmur]

Originally Posted by avishar

The SX4 centre console looks different.

Thats the 4WD controls(with ESP) and little better AC control unit with a small circular display in the middle.


Saying that the 4WD is one thing i miss in the SX4 as I bought it for doing decent amount of off-roading.

[blackasta]

Don't really agree to some points of yours.
All opinions strictly personal - and I am no automobile guru!

Originally Posted by srikanths1

Quiet true... How many units of AT do you think MSIL can sell in india in the low end car segment. An AT version of A-Star might go upt 4.1 ~ 4.3L...Our indian public would rather buy an Swift than spend ~4.3L for an AStar. Typical indian brain.


Quite true - the big car syndrome.

Given the B-B traffic in india(A/T in such conditions will lap up gas happily) and the soaring fuel price there will be very few takers if any in the lower end of the car segment for AT.

I beg to differ. I bought a low end car with A/t from Hyundai only to worry about 1 thing less while commuting to and from office - shifting gear umpteen times in traffic (or fry my clutch by remaining in half clutch forever - I am a bad driver with M/T!). If you look around teamBHP, i10 in A/T is selling quite jauntily! Don't you think people driving by themselves while commuting now have the choice to have 1-2 kmpl FE gain or driving pleasure in B-B traffic? Which one would you choose?

Makes a perfect business for the company not to sell these AT's here.

Hyundai I guess then aren't really business minded! They offer A/T at almost every segment

I think MSIL already failed after experimenting AT on Zen.

That was a substandard 3 speed A/T box, also used on Wagon R - which has the credit of stamping all A/T as fuel guzzlers and non performing

A/T's will make business sense the day Corolla is not a luxury car in India and when our roads and traffic are relatively organized which means a good cut down on wasted fuel due to bad traffic.

[AnonymousCoward]

If anything, AT compact cars will be a boon in our bumper to bumper traffic conditions. While in the engine department we have gone to MPFI's and CRDI's, sadly even basic AT is not offered in many cars :(

[arunmur]

Suzuki is way behind in AT technology. Their American counter parts use GM AT and the small cars sell with AT in Europe now a days due to ease of driving over bigger cars. Example Smart has turned AT from semi AT last year.

The 3SP electronic AT that Suzuki has is eons old and has to be upgraded. Today the Germans use 7 speed boxes so the Jap boxes has to be atleast a 5 speed.

Its only a matter of time that AT will become more efficient compared to the manual ones. The only reason the old AT's used to consume lot of fuel was less number of gears, the control system being hydraulic and torque convertor.

The modern DSG boxes basically solve all of the above issues with a electronic controller in place. And when these things are mass manufactured its not going to cost too much over the manual gearbox.

The day we get an AT where the gears are reverse, neutral, efficient, smooth, hilly and sport are the day when Indians will buy it.

[.anshuman]

Suzuki and Hyundai still sell the vintage autobox from the eighties which sap a lot of power and extra fuel too, Whereas Europeon and even japanese competiton offers much better automatic transmissions.

Modern Dual clutch transmissions like the ones offered in Laura and Jetta are as fast and efficient as their manual counterparts.

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by arunmur

Suzuki is way behind in AT technology. Their American counter parts use GM AT and the small cars sell with AT in Europe now a days due to ease of driving over bigger cars. Example Smart has turned AT from semi AT last year.

The 3SP electronic AT that Suzuki has is eons old and has to be upgraded. Today the Germans use 7 speed boxes so the Jap boxes has to be atleast a 5 speed.

Its only a matter of time that AT will become more efficient compared to the manual ones. The only reason the old AT's used to consume lot of fuel was less number of gears, the control system being hydraulic and torque convertor.

The modern DSG boxes basically solve all of the above issues with a electronic controller in place. And when these things are mass manufactured its not going to cost too much over the manual gearbox.

The day we get an AT where the gears are reverse, neutral, efficient, smooth, hilly and sport are the day when Indians will buy it.

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Suzuki and Hyundai still sell the vintage autobox from the eighties which sap a lot of power and extra fuel too, Whereas Europeon and even japanese competiton offers much better automatic transmissions.

Modern Dual clutch transmissions like the ones offered in Laura and Jetta are as fast and efficient as their manual counterparts.

The problem lies in the fact that an average Indian cannot really afford a jetta, laura, city or civic in India! and so automatically they do not have access to 7 speed DSG box or a 5 speed auto box (honda).

Suzuki/Hyundai on the other hand makes cheap cars in India, and its imperative that they introduce good quality A/T boxes in their cars at a standard premium (say 50k) over M/T for the masses to adopt A/T.