Maruti Suzuki targets selling 3 lakh automatic cars annually by 2020

Country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) is targeting to sell 3 lakh units of vehicles equipped with different automatic transmission technologies by 2020.

The company currently sells around 94,000 units per annum of vehicles with AGS (automated gear shift), AT (automatic) and CVT (continuously variable transmission).

It is counting on the more affordable AGS technology to drive sales growth of cars with automatic transmission.

"Our mission is to double AGS contribution from the current levels of 94,000 units to around 1.5 lakh units by end of FY 17-18 and achieve 3 lakh mark by 2020," a company spokesperson told PTI.

The company currently offers AGS technology in Alto K10, Wagon R, Celerio, Ignis and Dzire. CVT comes in Baleno, while AT transmission comes in Ciaz and Ertiga.

Going ahead, the company is looking to bring in AGS technology in models up to Dzire and AT (automatic) and CVT (continuously variable transmission) in models beyond Baleno.

"Our vision is to democratise the two pedal technology by making them affordable and relevant for the customers. Depending upon acceptability of the technology in a particular segment, we bring a suitable option like AGS, CVT or AT," the spokesperson said.

The company is also in the process of hiking production capacity of automatic transmissions and has also gone in for localisation of various parts in order to make the variants affordable.

"Awareness is still a challenge... With enhanced awareness we expect more first time buyers and rural penetration," the spokesperson said.

The sale of automatic variants across the company's product portfolio has risen steadily in the recent years. In 2013-14, the company had just sold 900 automatic units.

In 2014-15, the figure rose to 32,426 units, while it surged to 56,968 units in 2015-16. In the last financial year, the company sold a total of 94,736 units comprising AGS, CVT and AT technologies.

Overall, the company with over 47 per cent market share in the domestic passenger vehicle market, plans to sell a total of 20 lakh units annually by 2020.