Amit Saraswat 
India has been a market dominated by cars featuring manual transmission while automatic cars cater to the higher end of the customer base. However, owing to the ever-increasing congestion on our roads, the demand for automatic cars has been on the rise. Even price-conscious buyers are now shifting towards automatic cars, which come at a certain price premium over their manual transmission equivalent. For such buyers, we have compiled a list of 6 most affordable automatic cars currently on sale in the Indian market.
- Maruti Suzuki Alto K10
The Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 is currently the most affordable automatic car in India. The Alto K10 offers an automated manual transmission (AMT), which Maruti Suzuki likes to call Auto Gear Shift (AGS), from its VXI variant onwards, which retails at INR 5.61 lakh ex-showroom. The Alto K10 comes with a 1.0L K10 petrol engine that offers 66PS of power and 89Nm of torque. Speaking of its fuel efficiency, the Alto K10 AMT returns 24.90 km/l.
- Maruti Suzuki S-Presso
The Maruti Suzuki S-Presso uses the same 1.0L petrol engine and 5-speed AMT as the Alto K10. The engine produces the same power and torque output while managing to return a higher 25.30 km/l fuel efficiency. The S-Presso offers the AMT transmission from its VXI (O) variant onwards, which retails at INR 5.77 lakh ex-showroom. The S-Presso excels over the Alto K10 in terms of its high ground clearance and butch SUV-inspired styling.
- Renault Kwid
The Renault Kwid is the first model out of Maruti Suzuki’s portfolio in this list. The Kwid offers a 5-speed AMT from its RXT variant onwards, which retails at INR 6.13 lakh ex-showroom. The Kwid comes with a 1.0L 3-cylinder normal petrol engine, which produces 68PS of power and 91Nm of torque. Like the S-Presso, the Kwid also offers high ground clearance and SUV-inspired styling and competes directly with the Maruti Suzuki S-Presso. It is worth mentioning that Renault hasn’t revealed the fuel efficiency of the Kwid.
- Maruti Suzuki Celerio
The Maruti Suzuki Celerio is the most fuel-efficient automatic car on this list, offering 26 km/l. The Celerio also uses the same 1.0L petrol engine and 5-speed AMT used in the Alto K10 and S-Presso. The Celerio offers the option of a 5-speed AMT from its VXI variant onwards, which retails at INR 6.39 lakh ex-showroom.
- Maruti Suzuki Wagon-R
The Maruti Suzuki Wagon-R is a family hatchback offering a tall boy design, that’s famous for offering phenomenal headroom to its passengers. Unlike other cars in this list that offer a sole petrol engine option, the Wagon-R offers 2 petrol engine options — 1.0L and 1.2L — and both can be had with manual as well as AMT options. The Wagon-R offers the 5-speed AMT option from its VXI variant onwards, which retails at INR 6.55 lakh ex-showroom. The Wagon-R shares its engine and transmission with the Celerio, S-Presso and Alto-K10 while offering a claimed fuel efficiency of 25.19 km/l.
- Tata Tiago
The Tata Tiago is the most powerful car in this list, which also offers the biggest displacement. Powering the Tiago is a 1.2L petrol engine that produces 86PS of power and 113Nm of torque. Understandably enough, the Tiago AMT is the least efficient here, returning a fuel efficiency of 19.43 km/l. The Tiago offers a 5-speed AMT option from its XT variant onwards, which retails at INR 6.95 lakh ex-showroom.
