Automated Manual Transmission in High Gear in India

MUMBAI – Automated manual transmission is causing a shift in the Indian car market.

Introduced a year ago in Maruti Suzuki’s Celerio EZ, AMT helped make the B-segment hatchback one of the country’s 10 best-selling models within a month of its launch. It adds just Rs40,000 ($645) to the price and achieves a class-leading 54.3 mpg (4.2 L/100 km).

Maruti has added AMT-equipped versions of its Alto K10 and Ritz hatchbacks, and may offer the feature on the Wagon R.

The transmission is manufactured by Fiat supplier Magneti Marelli, in which Maruti has a stake. Rival Tata has a stake in Fiat, making it and Maruti the only Indian automakers offering the Magneti ATM system.

Tata’s compact Zest diesel is the first sedan in India equipped with an AMT, and its newly introduced Bolt will be the country’s first diesel hatchback using the technology. Tim Liverton, president-R&D, says the automaker is working on its own AMT.

Saju Mookken, Magneti Marelli’s India managing director and country manager, says it took him three years to persuade Maruti to use an AMT, and now he is unable to meet the demand. Saju earlier said 20% of vehicles in India will have AMTs by 2020, but he has revised that estimate to 30%.

Other automakers and suppliers are helping justify Saju’s prediction. Mahindra & Mahindra has developed its own AMT technology with engineering specialist Ricardo and likely will offer it in the Quanto  SUV and in the new compact XUV300 derived from the XUV500.

Nissan India is reported to be developing AMT for its Micra and Datsun Go hatchbacks. Volkswagen, already using a semiautomatic gearbox in its Up! in Europe, is considering an AMT for its Polo hatchback and Vento sedan in India. A new entry-level car with an AMT from Renault is expected soon.

Germany’s Robert Bosch and U.K.’s Drive System Design are working with Indian components makers on several systems to provide affordable and efficient automatic-drive systems for India.

In an AMT the clutch and the gears are operated automatically with a built-in electrohydraulic shift mechanism. With no clutch pedal, the sensors, processors and actuators in the electrohydraulic module take over the opening and closing of the clutch and moving the gears. Fuel efficiency is increased, because the gears are changed automatically at the ideal speed and at the right time in a fraction of a second.

Despite the initial popularity of AMT, some motorists say it is dull to drive a car with no clutch pedal or without changing gears manually. But Mookken told The Economic Times

he expects AMT to make driving in congested city traffic easier, in addition to offering greater fuel efficiency.