At dealerships, he said, the sales pitch often shifts to features from transmission though the customer may be looking only for ease of driving and not the added luxury.
The numbers tell a story. The average price of an automatic car in 2024 was ₹16.33 lakh, compared with ₹10.22 lakh for a manual variant. While this ₹6.10 lakh difference in the average price reflects how automatic variants are typically packaged in higher trims, the larger trend is still clear, say industry experts.
The price gap is widening, and buyers are finding it harder to justify this premium for something they may not have initially wanted, said Ravi Bhatia, president at consultancy firm Jato Dynamics.
Despite the price disparity, demand for automatic cars is rising, especially in congested metros, say automakers.
Growing Acceptance
“With a significant share of sales coming from continuously variable transmission (CVT) models, we expect to see this share rise even further,” said Kunal Behl, vice-president, marketing and sales at Honda Cars India, which offers the CVT automatic technology on its Elevate SUV and City and Amaze sedans.
Rakesh Sen, head of sales at JSW MG Motor that sells the Hector, Astor and Gloster SUVs with automatic transmission, said his company has witnessed a growing acceptance of automatic models. In metro markets, where more than 39% of the cars sold currently are automatic, there might be room for more focused transmission choices across price points, said Bhatia.
While experts acknowledge the increasing demand for automatic vehicles, especially in metros, they also say until manufacturers find a way to offer automatic variants without forcing buyers into an expensive, feature-laden package, the manual transmission’s reign in the mass market will remain unchallenged.
