The automated manual transmission (AMT) technology that has swiftly gaining popularity amongst major automakers like Maruti Suzuki, Renault, Mahindra and Tata Motors in the country, the Japanese automaker does not seemed to be too impressed with the idea. The reason being Toyota feels that AMT technology features a high number of moving components in comparison to automatic transmission kits. This would indeed mean more wear and tear of vital components thereby increasing the risk of high maintenance.
Speaking more on the occasion, N Raja, director and senior vice president, Toyota Kirloskar Motor India, said, “We do believe the market is gradually moving towards automatic cars but we will stick to traditional automatic transmission. Repairing a gearbox costs a lot of money and AMT has higher number of movable parts and may not be as durable.”
Maruti Suzuki has been the first carmaker to introduce the AMT technology in its small car Celerio that was offered at a lucrative price tag. Automatic cars being a expensive deal the demand for them were not too impressive. Toyota shall continue to offer models in the automatic trims itself and the upcoming next generation Innova shall also receive an automatic transmission.
Source: HT
