Automaker Kia India aims to garner 40 per cent of its overall sales this year from cars with an intelligent manual transmission (iMT) as demand for automatic vehicles continues to grow in the domestic market, according to a senior company official.

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The automaker is replacing manual transmission with intelligent manual transmission (iMT) in turbo petrol and diesel trims of Seltos, Carens and Sonet.

The entry-level trims of the models, which come with a 1.5-litre petrol engine, would however continue to feature the manual transmission in order to cater to the price-conscious customer.

The iMT trims come with a gear shift lever but no clutch thus enhancing ease of driving especially in city conditions. It also gives the buyers an option to shift from automatic to manual mode.

In an interaction with PTI, Kia India National Head (Sales and Marketing) Hardeep Singh Brar said the company sold 1.35 lakh units in 2020 and out of that iMT contribution stood at 7 per cent.

"Last year we sold around 2.5 lakh units and iMT contributed 30,000 units. We have got confidence from growing consumers' preference for the iMT technology and thus we decided to bring iMT to all diesel and turbo petrol cars," he added.

Brar said there is pent-up demand for automatic cars but customers do not opt it at the cost of affordability.

"Shifting from manual to automatic transmission involves a significant rise in price but not in the case of iMT...We, at Kia, foresee a 40 per cent contribution from iMT in 2023 calendar year," he stated.

Kia India sold 2.5 lakh units in the domestic market and expects its dispatches to rise by 10 per cent this year.

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"Kia expects 10 per cent sales growth this year which is almost double of the anticipated industry growth," Brar said.

The company sales had grown by 35 per cent in 2022 as compared with 2021.

"Last two years, the industry has bounced back and our outlook is strong but there are headwinds which are impacting like increased interest rates and economic issues globally which were not there earlier," Brar said.

With pent-up demand almost gone and strong base sales last year the growth rates now are going to be in single digits or high single digits, he noted.

"We cannot expect a growth rate of 25 per cent and that was partly because after COVID-19 (FY2022) the industry dipped to almost 2.4 million and the automotive industry has now bounced back in two years, selling about 3.9 million units," Brar said. 

Kia India reported wholesales of 2,69,229 units in the last fiscal, a growth of 44 per cent over 1,86,787 units in 2021-22.

The company also posted its highest-ever market share of 7.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of last fiscal by dispatching 74,735 units to its dealers.