Mahindra to give the Scorpio Automatic a new, six speed gearbox

The demand for automatic transmissions on diesel suv’s has been on the rise. Mahindra, the homegrown SUV manufacturer has just launched the automatic transmission version of their popular XUV500. A six-speed gearbox, it is manufactured by Aisin Seiki and goes by the F6F45 nomenclature. We had spoken to Pravin Shah, President & Chief Executive (Automotive) at Mahindra & Mahindra earlier, where he hinted that the manufacturer’s entire model range would feature an automatic variant. 
The market is now strife with talks of the Scorpio getting the new-automatic gearbox treatment.
The automatic variant of the the Mahindra Scorpio was launched a few months ago, in July. It uses an older generation six-speed gearbox manufactured by Drivetrain Systems International (DSI). However, demand for the automatic Scorpio has been less than what the company had expected and if sources are to be believed, gearbox stocks have been piling up at the plant.

Mating the Aisin Seiki gearbox to the longitudinal-engine layout on the rear-wheel drive Scorpio won’t be an easy task, as it is currently used in a transverse-engine layout on the XUV500. Mahindra engineers are said to be working closely with Aisin Seiki to iron out the kinks. So while, the new-automatic gearbox in the Scorpio will be made by the same vendor, as for the XUV500, it is unlikely to be the same unit. Moreover, this second generation automatic gearbox is also likely to be used on other Mahindra models in the future.