Tasting decent success with the AMT (Automated Manual Transmission) in the passenger car segment, Tata Motors is all set to introduce the convenience feature in their commercial vehicles range. The brand now plans to equip its trucks and buses with AMT in the near future and will surely be welcomed by drivers.
Being driven over long distances, commercial vehicles demand a lot of gearshifts and hence, adds to a lot of drive fatigue. AMT will easy off the gearshift hassle and will not require any clutch movement too, hence making it easy to live with when on the run. Also, since AMTs are cheaper than conventional automatics, the cost of ownership should also be relatively lower. Additionally, optimising shift timings will result in better fuel efficiency which will benefit the transport operators as well.
Rumours suggest that the AMT gearbox will be first tested on the Ultra range and in the Tata Ace LCV as well. Other commercial vehicle players such as Scania and Volvo have already introduced AMT buses in India. Ashok Leyland has also launched the JanBus with a LeyMatic AMT gearbox.
Source – Economic Times