50% of Passenger Vehicles May Have AMT By 2020 Says Tata Motors

Tata Motors is betting big on auto gear shift for its passenger vehicle portfolio and expects around 50 per cent of its products to have the advanced technology by 2020.

Besides, the company, which plans to launch 2-3 new products per year in the passenger vehicle segment in the next five years, is working on various alternate technologies like hybrids and fuel cell as it prepares itself to cater to the needs of emerging passenger vehicle segments.

"Yes, we are looking at introducing AMT (automated manual transmission) technology in the future models. We have already showcased Nano AMT during the Auto Expo. By 2020 we expect 50 per cent of our product portfolio to have AMT technology," Tata Motors President and Head-Advanced and Product Engineering Tim Leverton told PTI.

Elaborating the benefits of the AMT technology, he said: "It is fuel efficient and is a good fit for the customer demand here."

The company's recently launched product -- compact sedan Zest comes with the AMT technology. It has also introduced AMT in buses and plans to introduce trucks with the auto gear shift.

The company sources AMT technology from Italian firm Magneti Marelli.

When asked about other technology advancement plans, Leverton said the company is working on introducing buses with hybrid technology in the country in the next 3-5 years.

"We have already sold buses in Europe with hybrid technology. As electric vehicles are still long way off due to the costly batteries. Hybrid technology is the closest we are in terms of launching here in the next 3-5 years," Leverton said.

He further said the company is also working on fuel cell technology.

"The other aspects include light weighting and downsizing the new generation of engines. Revotron gasoline engine has been appreciated and there will more from the family to suit various vehicle sizes," Leverton said.

The company, which is focusing on regaining its market share in the domestic auto industry, has worked on its future strategy and is also taking the help of Jaguar Land Rover in order to improve fit and finish of its passenger vehicles.

"We are relatively new in the passenger vehicle segment. The market has grown rapidly with the coming of multi-national companies. We have now determined how our portfolio should be. We have worked to overhaul our product development process," Leverton said.