India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) on Monday said that it has created a new milestone with the sales of over 6 lakh automatic transmission passenger vehicles. Of the 1,729,826 passenger vehicles MSIL sold in the local market in 2018-19, 2 lakh were gearless cars, which makes up 11.56 per cent of the total sales.
The company offers automatic options in 12 models and a choice of three different automatic transmissions: Auto Gear Shift (AGS), Automatic Transmission (AT) and Continuous Variable Transmission (CVT). The AGS is offered in Alto K-10, S-Presso, WagonR, Celerio, Ignis, Swift, Dzire and Vitara Brezza. The AT transmission is offered in Ertiga, Ciaz and XL6, while the Baleno comes equipped with CVT technology.
Maruti says sales of automatic vehicles accelerated in the last 5 years after the introduction of the popular AGS technology with the Celerio in 2014. Out of the 6 lakh automatics sold, over 5 lakh are equipped with AGS.
Kenichi Ayukawa, Managing Director and CEO, MSIL said, “This major milestone reflects the growing customer acceptance of new technologies that brings comfort and ease of driving.” Industry experts say that Maruti Suzuki’s automatic vehicles are popular across the country, particularly in markets like Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and Chennai where highly congested roads make commuting not just a time-consuming, but difficult and exhausting task for most. “Our automatic technology brings ease of driving, especially in city stop-and-go traffic, excellent fuel efficiency and affordable price,” Ayukawa said.
Experts also said that the share of automatics in India, which was less than 5 per cent three years ago, has the potential to account for as much as 40 per cent within five years.