India’s mass-market car segment has seen a clear shift in buyer preferences, with more people opting for automatic transmissions over manual gearboxes. Increasing urban traffic and the desire for more convenient daily commuting have urged carmakers to make automatic options available in more accessible variants rather than restricting them to top trims.
The most recent example here is the Kia Sonet, which now features a torque converter automatic (diesel) and a turbo-petrol dual-clutch automatic in lower trims, priced below the Rs. 10 lakh mark. As a result, the Sonet is the most affordable diesel automatic crossover that one can buy right now.
Other carmakers have followed a similar approach. The Hyundai Venue recently got a more affordable diesel automatic variant positioned lower in the lineup, making the two-pedal option accessible to more people. Earlier, Mahindra introduced the Z4 automatic variant in the Scorpio N to bridge the gap between entry-level and top-spec variants.
For most manufacturers, expanding their automatic variant line-up is a solid way of catering to a growing set of buyers who prioritise ease of driving over marginal price savings. As traffic conditions worsen in major cities, the push to democratise automatic transmissions across lower variants is only likely to continue.
