Transmission systems have significant impact on drive ability and fuel economy of the vehicle. Electronic control and increased gear ratios have played a major role in the evolution of transmission systems in improving gear-shift comfort, drive ability and fuel economy. New transmission technologies being developed include “Automated Manual (AMT) transmissions”, with both single-clutch and Dual Clutch (DCT) or Direct Shift (DSG) variants, and Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT).
In India the manual type transmission is prevalent, whereas automatic and automated manual systems are slowly making their presence. It is expected that India will become world's largest producer of small car, which requires transmission systems that are low cost while at the same time offer comfortable smooth shifting, and fuel efficiency. Due to the space constraint in the small car, packaging is a challenge for transmission systems for small cars. This paper discusses the various transmission technologies with their merits and demerits, as well as the opportunities, challenges and cost economy in adopting the advanced transmission technologies that suit the Indian conditions. Automated manual transmission, that combines best features of manual and automatic transmission, has special significance. The future potential transmission technologies which can be adopted in India are Automated Manual Transmissions and Dual Clutch transmission. Since Dual Clutch transmission is an offshoot of Automated Manual Transmission, hence there will be a synergy in the development effort of these two technologies, in India.