Car lovers, say goodbye to frequent gear shifts! Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata now bet on this

Major automobile firms Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Tata Motors are betting big on sales of models with automated transmission as more and more consumers prefer to bid goodbye to the hassle of frequent gear shifts.

Buoyed by robust response to its Auto Gear Shift (AGS), market leader Maruti Suzuki India is targeting to sell a total of over 2 lakh cars with AGS this fiscal, after crossing three-lakh retail sales-mark within five years of introducing the technology.

On the other hand, Tata Motors believes that five years down the line, every second car sold in India could be an AMT (automated manual transmission).

Hyundai Motor India, the second biggest passenger vehicle maker in the country, has also seen a rapid increase in the share of its vehicles with automatic transmission (AT) to 9.8 per cent of total sales as on June-end this year from just 4 per cent in 2015.

Explaining the reasons for increasing popularity of vehicles with automated transmission in India, Maruti Suzuki (MIS) Senior Executive Director (Marketing and Sales) R S Kalsi told PTI that it has enticed the aspiration of ever evolving customers.

"It is one such innovation that offers comfort and ease of driving to the customers with no compromise on fuel efficiency. It has achieved wide acceptance among customers," he said.

At present, Maruti Suzuki offers AGS in seven models in its range, including Alto K10, WagonR, Celerio, Swift, IGNIS and Dzire. It has introduced the technology in its hatchback Celerio in 2014.

"With enhanced awareness and deeper penetration, we aim to sell over two lakh cars with AGS in 2018-19," Kalsi said, adding that within five years of its introduction, AGS crossed three lakh retail sales.

Tata Motors Predsident PV Business Unit, Mayank Pareek said the automated gear shift has become popular in India.

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"For us (Tata Motors) it accounts for 25 per cent of sales of our models which have AMT," he added.

When asked how popular the AMTs could become, he said, "The potential is such that in five years, every second car sold could be an AMT".

Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) is also witnessing a traction for its vehicles with AT.

According to a company official, the company has sold 27,029 units of vehicles with AT out of a total sales of 2,75,136 as on June-end accounting for 9.8 per cent of the total sales.

The percentage of vehicles with AT has been growing over the years, from 4 per cent in 2015 to 7 per cent in 2016.

The official said last year, HMIL sold 42,186 units of vehicles with AT, accounting for 8 per cent of total sales of 5,27,320 units.