Maruti Suzuki has been the segment leader in every hatchback segment in India and the company is gearing itself up to launch the Maruti Suzuki Celerio which will serve as a replacement for the A-Star and Zen Estilo. We recently brought you the spy shots of the Celerio and the latest word on the street is that a Celerio EZ Drive automatic variant will also be offered. The Maruti Suzuki Celerio automatic variant will get a clutchless transmission. There are manual transmissions and there are automatic transmissions. But EZ Drive clutchless transmissions bring the best of both worlds together. Celerio bridges the gap between the Alto and the Wagon R and to some extent it also overlaps the segment between the Wagon R and the Ritz entry level variants.
[box type=”success” ]Also check out: Maruti Celerio Price, Pictures, Features & Comparison With Wagon R And Hyundai i10[/box]
Photo Gallery: 2014 Suzuki A-Wind Concept
You have to shift the gears manually via a gear-shift lever or paddles, which is connected to what seems to be a normal manual gearbox, the changes though are carried out by a computer. Let us say it is a sort of a semi-automatic transmission. The same will make a debut on the Celerio when it breaks cover at the 2014 Auto Expo. With Maruti Suzuki bringing in something like this, it is bound to make this form of transmission popular in small cars.
[box type=”info” width=”720″ ]Read more about the Celerio EZ Drive Clutch-less Transmission[/box]
The Automatic Manual Transmission/Clutchless Transmission or EZ Drive is more fuel efficient than the manual transmission and it is believed that the engineers back at Maruti Suzuki have made the car 5 percent more fuel efficient as compared to the manual transmission variant. At the same time, this form of transmission is cheaper as compared to the automatic one which usually costs about a lakh above the manual one. The AMT mated Celerio is expected to cost about Rs 40,000-50,000 more than the manual sibling.
The gear lever might resemble a Tiptronic system where the driver pushes the gear lever forward to shift up and pulls it back to shift down. The car is expected to have 5 forward ratios and the AMT will be one of the unique selling points of the Maruti Suzuki Celerio automatic which will be powered by a 1.0 litre, 3 cylinder K series motor that develops a maximum power of 67 BHP. The same can be expected to be made available as an option on other Maruti cars as well in future.
Are you excited about this development? We sure are and hope that Maruti does bring the technology to the Celerio. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Stay tuned to Car Blog India for Auto Expo 2014 coverage.
