Automatic speed changing apparatus for vehicle

An automatic speed changing apparatus for a vehicle including at least a forward movement/rearward movement shifting lever for shifting movement of said vehicle from forward movement to rearward movement and vice versa so that when said forward movement/rearward movement shifting lever is actuated to either of forward movement and rearward movement, a speed stage of the vehicle is automatically selected to match the movement speed of the vehicle at this time point, said automatic speed changing apparatus comprising:

• a hold switch adapted to be actuated independently of the forward movement/rearward movement shifting lever and for instructing whether or not a speed stage selected at this time point is to be maintained in response to actuation of said hold switch to an ON or an OFF position;
• and
• a controller for storing and holding control data on the speed stage automatically selected at this time point in response to actuation of said hold switch to an ON position and then automatically maintaining the selected speed stage with the use of the stored and maintained control data until the hold swich is actuated to an OFF position and automatically maintaining the selected speed stage when the forward movement/rearward movement shifting lever is shifted from the forward movement to the rearward movement or vice versa while the hold switch is shifted to the ON position, wherein the speed stage is first forcibly controlled to a second speed stage and thereafter when the vehicle speed is accelerated, the speed stage is shifted up to the speed stage being automatically held as time elapses.