Tata to locally produce AMT gearbox

Waiting periods for Nana AMT sees Tata chart out local production plan

Girish Wagh, the Senior Vice President of Programme Planning and Project Management at Tata Motors, has recently announced that the company is planning on locally producing automated manual transmission in India. The decision comes in to cater to increased demand for cars equipped with automated manual transmissions in India. Tata makes India’s most affordable automatic car in the form of the Tata Nano AMT which is priced between Rs. 2.75 lakh to Rs. 2.94 lakh, ex-showroom Delhi.

Currently 40 per cent of demand for the Tata Nano is accounted for by the AMT models and there is a waiting period of around two months for the Nano AMT. The Tata Nano AMT is powered by a 624cc, twin cylinder petrol engine that is mated to a five-speed automated manual transmission.

Tata will be commencing production of the five-speed AMT gearbox in India during the 2016 calendar year. Currently AMT gearboxes in India are supplied by Magneti Marelli. When the AMT unit will be locally manufactured, expect cars equipped with them to become even more affordable. AMT gearboxes are closely related to manual gearboxes and manufacturing them in India is not a very complicated affair. Tata will be localizing Magneti Marelli’s unit.

Tata also manufactures the Zest compact sedan with the same AMT gearbox. The Zest AMT also happens to be the only diesel automatic compact sedan in India. Although, Maruti Suzuki is looking to launch the Swift DZire diesel in AMT spec soon to give the Tata Zest AMT competition.

Also read: Tata Nano AMT Long Term Report