It's an automatic shift! Car buyers changing gear fast for smooth drive

Mumbai: An increasing number of mainstream car buyers in the country are opting for automatic transmission (AT) vehicles despite their higher price tags, lured by smoother driving experiences and improved fuel efficiency. Once considered a luxury, ATs now represent approximately 26% of mass-market vehicle sales in the country, a significant increase from 16% in 2020, data collated by Jato Dynamics shows.The demand for such cars that ease the burden of stop-and-go driving is growing significantly in urban and metro markets that face rising traffic congestions.

One out of three cars sold in the country’s top 20 cities are now automatic. This despite these vehicles commanding a premium of ₹60,000 to ₹2 lakh over their manual counterparts, according to data collated by Jato Dynamics.

83 Models with AT Options
This surge is evident in the market’s offerings of 83 models with AT options, providing an unprecedented choice to consumers, and top manufacturers such as Maruti Suzuki, Toyota, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hyundai and Kia are expanding their AT offerings by investing in advanced technologies.

For Honda, which offers advanced continuously variable transmission (CVT) across its product line-up, automatic vehicles already account for well over half of its overall sales in the country.

“Almost 60% of our cars sold are CVT variants as the CVT transmission is not restricted to top variants but is available in lower variants of all models as well,” said Kunal Behl, vice president, marketing and sales, at Honda Cars India.

The company’s line-up includes the Honda Elevate, City, City e:HEV and Amaze. Automatic transmissions are not only fuel-efficient but offers a range of options, from the more affordable automated manual transmissions (AMT) to the sophisticated CVT and high-performance dual-clutch transmissions (DCT).

The adoption of automatic transmission has been across age groups and urban and semi-urban markets, driven by increasing urbanisation, rising disposable incomes, and a growing preference for convenience, carmakers said.

They expect the trend to continue.

“With a significant share of sales coming from CVT models and with the growing shift towards AT, we can see a rise in its wider acceptance in the future as well,” said Behl of Honda Cars.

However, despite the surge in demand, Indian carmakers are importing most of their automatic gearboxes, Ravi Bhatia, president at Jato Dynamics, said.

This reliance on imports contributes to higher costs and slows AT adoption across all vehicle segments, he said.

Manufacturers such as Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra, though, have localised AMT production, making automatics more accessible in the budget segment.