Not yet an automatic choice for car buyers
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Will this be the decade when more buyers shift towards automatic
transmissions in cars? The 1990s was when air-conditioners in cars were
no longer considered a luxury and became a necessity. The 2000s saw
power steering becoming the norm in cars. As discerning buyers go for
comfort, performance and efficiency, car manufacturers believe that this
could be the decade when automatic transmissions slowly become the
preferred mode of changing gears.
Current numbers
Right now, hardly five per cent of the cars sold in the country – about 2.5 million passenger vehicles will be sold this financial year – feature automatic transmissions. That is because cars with automatic transmission are more expensive than manual transmission cars – anything from Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 lakh costlier than the comparable petrol model (see table) – and mileage drops by 15-20 per cent. It is a perception issue too, say manufacturers.
Right now, hardly five per cent of the cars sold in the country – about 2.5 million passenger vehicles will be sold this financial year – feature automatic transmissions. That is because cars with automatic transmission are more expensive than manual transmission cars – anything from Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 lakh costlier than the comparable petrol model (see table) – and mileage drops by 15-20 per cent. It is a perception issue too, say manufacturers.
Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motor India had automatic transmissions in
their Zen and Santro hatchbacks about a decade ago, but did not do too
well mainly because of the price and that their mileage fell
substantially when compared with the manual transmission cars.
Automatic transmissions are more widely accepted in luxury cars and
SUVs, accounting for more than half the cars sold in this category. Of
course, this is a small, but growing category of passenger vehicles. For
instance, more than half the Honda Accord luxury sedans and Honda CR-V
SUVs bought are automatic transmission, according to Jnaneswar Sen,
Senior Vice President (marketing & Sales) Honda Cars India.
But, that may change if early indications are anything to go by.
Creating a buzz on automatics is Maruti’s launch of the Celerio
small-car with an automated manual transmission, not quite an automatic
transmission, but one that has substantially helped reduce the price gap
between manual and automatic transmission cars.
The automated manual transmission of the Celerio, developed by Suzuki
Motor Corporation of Japan, is based on an electronic control unit which
drives a hydraulic actuator to control the clutch engagement and the
gear shifting. The most important reason car buyers in the West prefer
automatic transmission is the comfort and driving convenience it
affords. In Japan, continuously variable transmission (CVT) is quite
popular because of its good fuel efficiency. And, people are prepared to
pay for that comfort. Buyers in India, especially those who have driven
automatic transmission cars abroad and enjoyed the convenience, are
leading the change here.
Options available
What makes the Celerio automatic attractive, according to CV Raman, Executive Officer – Engineering, Maruti Suzuki, is the pricing and the fuel efficiency that the vehicle manages to offer. Maruti says the Celerio automatic gives a mileage of 23.1 km a litre, while the automatic variant is only Rs 40,000 more than the comparable manual transmission. “Two of the features which work against automatics have been addressed,” says Raman.
What makes the Celerio automatic attractive, according to CV Raman, Executive Officer – Engineering, Maruti Suzuki, is the pricing and the fuel efficiency that the vehicle manages to offer. Maruti says the Celerio automatic gives a mileage of 23.1 km a litre, while the automatic variant is only Rs 40,000 more than the comparable manual transmission. “Two of the features which work against automatics have been addressed,” says Raman.
Another reason Maruti has been able to bring down the cost of the AMT in
the Celerio is that it is manufactured here, when all manufacturers
import automatic transmissions, as the volumes are still low.
However, Rakesh Srivastava, Senior Vice-President – Sales &
Marketing, Hyundai Motor India, feels it will be quite some time before
there will be a substantial shift towards automatic transmissions. This
is because of the price differential between manual transmission cars
and automatic transmission ones, and the lower mileage. India is still a
price sensitive market and more than two-thirds of car buyers go for
hatchbacks.
When Ford India launched its compact sports utility vehicle EcoSport
with an automatic option, it had reckoned that about five per cent of
buyers would opt for it. However, it had to quickly stop bookings for
the automatic transmission variant, as the demand exceeded the company’s
estimate by almost an additional five percentage points. Ford India
gets the automatic transmission from Mexico and globally there was a
huge demand for the automatic variant of the EcoSport.
As vehicle density on roads increases and as people spend more time in
cars, automatics become attractive, points out Vinay Piparsania,
Executive Director – Marketing, Sales & Service, Ford India.
“Commutes become longer and there is the fatigue factor (of constantly
having to shift gears),” he adds.
Sen of Honda Cars says automatic cars are costlier not just because they
are imported. They are more expensive to make because the technology is
costlier. The technology of automatic transmissions has also vastly
changed and they are as fuel efficient as manual transmission ones. For
instance, Sen says, in the new City sedan, the mileage in the automatic
variant is as good or better than the manual transmission one.
“Technology has changed vastly, but perception is still to change
completely,” adds Sen.
As cities grow and commutes become longer, car makers are banking on
what many consider a luxury now becoming an automatic necessity.
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