Why is there no Maruti CNG AMT?

The rising fuel prices have made owning a car an expensive thing in India. CNG cars are much more economical when compared to a regular petrol car. This is why a lot of people are preferring them over petrol-powered cars. Another thing that people want is the ease of use that can be provided by automatic gearboxes. Maruti is one of the leading manufacturers when it comes to CNG cars, however they do not offer CNG cars with AMT transmission. In today’s article, we will see why there are no Maruti CNG AMT cars.

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CNG basics

As mentioned above, due to rising fuel prices, people are looking for alternate options. CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) is currently the most affordable option. CNG tanks are mated to the engine. These CNG tanks are placed in the boot, completely occupying it. CNG cars also offer a good average but at the cost of performance.

AMT problems

AMT gearboxes are not true automatic gearboxes. They do offer computerised gear changes but are not as complex as a DCT or torque converter gearbox. If you have ever driven an AMT gearbox, you will notice a slight delay and the requirement of higher revs while changing gears. When a CNG kit is added, it stresses the engine even more. This can be solved by the manufacturers by tuning the engine and transmission properly.

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Why hasn’t Maruti brought it yet?

As mentioned above, the AMT gearbox on CNG can be a bit complex. Currently, there is a market for CNG AMT but it is still not that big. Even the demand for CNG cars as a whole is not that huge compared to petrol or diesel cars. So it doesn’t make much sense for Maruti to invest so much to retune the transmission and engine for only a handful of sales. But Maruti can bring CNG AMT in the future if the demand for CNG continues to rise.

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