Buyers fancying the Maruti Celerio AMT will get their cars delivered only next year, according to RC Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki.
The waiting period of the Celerio AMT has gone up from 5-6 months to 7-8 months reports Autocar India. Of the total 36,000 bookings Maruti received for the Celerio, AMT models account for 50 percent, which far exceeds Maruti's initial expectations of 25-30 percent.
The huge waiting period arises because Magneti Marelli, the supplier of the Celerio's AMT, is unable to cope with the demand. Currently, key components of the AMT system are imported, though Magneti Marelli plans to set up a production base in Manesar within a year.
The Celerio for now is available only with a petrol engine which happens to be a 1.0-liter three-cylinder unit. The AMT gearbox is available on the base LXi and VXi variants.
The demand for AMT technology is only good news for car makers like Tata and Mahindra, who have announced or showcased products with this technology. Tata says it will use AMT for the upcoming Zest diesel, while a Nano with this gearbox technology was caught testing recently. Mahindra showcased a Quanto with AMT at the Auto Expo this year.
[Source - Autocar India]
