After unleashing an excitement through its new cars fitted with auto gear shift (AGS) technology, country’s top car maker Maruti Suzuki is marching ahead with growing volumes of those models.
Compared to fully automatic versions, AGS or AMT (automated manual transmission) variants appear to be working as a better value proposition for customers considering the relatively smaller price premium to the manual variants as also relatively lower maintenance costs vis-a-vis conventional automatic cars.
Maruti introduced AGS technology first in its entry-level model Celerio, and subsequently in new Alto K10. AGS variants of both the models have been well-received. It has now over one lakh bookings for Celerio, and 33,000 bookings for Alto K10. Of the total bookings, the demand for AGS in Celerio is about 38 per cent and over 25 per cent on new Alto K10.
The company has so far sold close to 60,000 units of Celerio and about 9,300 units of Alto K10 fitted with AGS.
The waiting period on Celerio is about 14-16 weeks and about 16-18 weeks on Alto K10. The company said it is working with suppliers to minimise the waiting period.
Maruti was also positively surprised by the market demand. Especially, younger customers, who have seen the success of automatic in developed markets, are now coming forward.
“We were conscious to price the Auto Gear Shift attractively only about Rs.40,000-45,000 more than the manual variants. In terms of fuel efficiency, AGS is on a par with manual (of 22.9 KMPL). Given the city stop-go traffic conditions, many people are opting for AGS variant,” said a company spokesperson.
“The AGS variants offer the convenience of an automatic car without compromising on mileage. That said, it scores lower on smoothness and shift-timing than a conventional automatic. Overall, the price-value balance appears in favour of AMT, particularly in the entry-level car segment,” said Subrata Ray, Group Vice-President – Corporate Ratings, Icra.
