Maruti Ritz facelift to get an automatic gearbox

So it seems that our speculation turns out to be right. Maruti Suzuki will soon launch the Ritz facelift.

But that’s not the big news; everyone expected it by Diwali considering test mules have been spotted all over north India. The update is that Maruti Suzuki will bestow the Ritz facelift with an automatic gearbox option.

We presume that it will be the same 4-speed automatic box that debuted on the new Swift Dzire. However, this also means that it will only be available in the petrol variant and is not the much-wanted diesel automatic.

Maruti Suzuki currently sells A-Star, Dzire and SX4 with an automatic gearbox in the sub-10 lakh rupee segments.

Maruti had earlier experimented with AT variants of Wagon R and the Zen. As the price differential was about Rs 1 lakh vis-à-vis the manual transmission, they were ignored by Indian consumers.

In the last few years the attitude towards automatic transmissions have changed drastically. Many Indians are preferring auto boxes over the manual variants to stay calm amidst the rising congestion levels in metro cities.

About 20 percent of A-Star sales come from the automatic variant, according to a report on The Hindu Business Line.

AT variants are excellent for city driving. In stop-go traffic, you don’t have to constantly work the clutch and gears. The AT box does all the hard work, never stalls and this is a reason why many females buyers prefer the AT over the manual.

The Ritz facelift automatic is likely to arrive at dealerships next month. This will also add another USP to the Ritz making it more competitive against sister car Swift which as we all know is a motoring success story.

[Source: TheHinduBusinessline.com]