Hyundai has officially announced the launch of the Intelligent Manual Transmission or IMT with the Venue. The car will be launched later this month and the Venue will become the first car in the Indian market to offer the clutch-less manual car in India. It should be noted that Kia announced the launch of the same technology with the upcoming Sonet, which is scheduled to be launched by the festive season of this year.
The new technology will offer the IMT that will have only two pedals – for the brake and the accelerator. The driver will be able to change the gear of the car even without the clutch pedal. This is like the AMT but without the automatic change of the gears. This is a semi-automatic transmission that has never been available with any of the cars in India before. Since there is no automatic change of the gears, the technology will allow Hyundai to price the car very aggressively in the market.
Hyundai will only offer this technology with the 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine. It will be six-speed transmission, similar to the manual version of the car. It should be noted that Hyundai also offers the 7-speed automatic Dual Clutch Transmission with the 1.0-litre engine and it will continue to offer that in the market. However, to attract the customers who do not want to spend much on the high-end DCT, they will now have the choice of the IMT.
Also read: Citroen to launch a sub-4 meter compact SUV in India
Commenting on the announcement, Mr SS Kim, MD & CEO, Hyundai Motor India Ltd., said,
“Hyundai has been driving the adoption of new and innovative technologies at scale. With our ‘Future Ready’ business strategy, we have been continuously striving for customer delight with Human-centric technologies that present our innate understanding of what our customers’ desire. iMT is one such technology that accounts for the pleasure of driving and also the convenience needed to ease the hectic burden of daily commutes. This unparalleled drive experience on Hyundai VENUE – India’s First Connected SUV has been curated through a constant pursuit of innovation for Customer Delight.”
The IMT works by Transmission Gear Shift (TGS) Lever with Intention Sensor, Hydraulic Actuator and Transmission Control Unit (TCU). The system has been designed to offer the clutchless experience while navigating through the city traffic. For almost everyone, constantly depressing the clutch pedal in traffic is what causes most fatigue, making the drive quite tiring. Through IMT, Hyundai wants to eliminate this.
The TCU receives a signal that the driver may want to change the gear. The TCU then controls the concentric slave cylinder that controls the clutch and pressure plate. This allows the driver to change the gear seamlessly on the move. This is a first-of-its-kind transmission that will be available with the Venue and the prices are expected to marginally higher than the manual versions of the same trim.
Also read: 5 tastefully modified Mahindra Armada SUVs