Following the launch of the WagonR and Stingray with the Automated Manual Transmission(AMT) , Maruti Suzuki Corp plans to extend their Automatic tech to each and every segment. Maruti offers a variant of semi-automatic and automatic technology in the Celerio, Alto K10, WagonR, Stingray, Baleno and the Ciaz. The Alto K10, WagonR, Stingray and Celerio are equipped with Automatic Gear Shift technology whereas the Baleno and Ciaz drive with the Continuously variable transmission (CVT).Maruti’s utility vehicle, Ertiga, newly launched S-Cross and their best-selling hatchback Swift are next in line to get the automatic transmission.
Recently, Magneti Marelli (Maruti Suzuki’s AMT supplier) inaugurated their AMT facility in Manesar. The fully operational plant started production in July 2015 and has been supplying AMT to Maruti Suzuki since August 2015. Now that the AMT tech is being manufactured locally, therefore buyers may not have to wait for their cars for long. The local production is also expected to make the technology affordable, currently AMT version of cars costs more than the manual version.
The AMT is designed to provide fuel efficiency at par with the manual version. On the other hand the stepless CVT transmission does not offer the same efficiency and is expensive than the AMT. So we can expect the mass market cars to roll out with the cost effective AMTs while the premium offerings from Maruti will get the CVT. Maruti plans to put the ‘two-pedal’ technology in every segment it currently operates in order to provide buyers with additional options.