Honda has confirmed that the new 2018 Amaze, a pre-production prototype of which is on display at the Auto Expo 2018, will get an automatic transmission with the diesel engine. The automatic gear shift duties for the diesel engine in the new Amaze will be handled by a CVT, in what is going to be a first for Honda.
The Japanese carmaker has also revealed that the new Amaze will continue to draw power from the 1.5-litre diesel engine that powers the current Amaze. In its current configuration, it makes a maximum power figure of 100PS and peak torque of 200Nm and is paired with a 5-speed manual transmission. The Amaze petrol is already powered by a 1.2-litre petrol engine with a CVT.
At present, only the Maruti Suzuki Dzire and Volkswagen Ameo sub-compact cars are available in India with an automatic transmission paired with a diesel engine. The Dzire diesel gets an AMT which is not as sophisticated as the dual-clutch automatic transmission that the Ameo diesel gets but is significantly cheaper in comparison. For perspective, the automatic versions of the Dzire and Ameo cost around Rs 47,000 and Rs 1.3 lakh more than their respective manual options. A CVT, which is also available on the existing Amaze petrol, on the other hand, costs around Rs 1 lakh more than the manual variant. We expect the CVT to attract about as much premium in the upcoming diesel Amaze when it is launched here in India.
Currently, the Amaze diesel starts at Rs 6.75 lakh and goes up to Rs 8.5 lakh. Honda offers the CVT in the top three most-loaded variants of the Amaze petrol. If the carmaker takes the same approach, the new Amaze diesel with the CVT will certainly go close to the Rs 10 lakh mark. The top Zdi+ AMT variant of the Dzire costs Rs 9.43 lakh while the Ameo diesel with DSG costs around Rs 10 lakh (all prices ex-showroom).
Source: CarDekho.com
