Gear shift control apparatus for automatic transmission and gear shift control method for automatic transmission

A gear shift control apparatus for an automatic transmission, performing gear shift control on an automatic transmission provided so as to be able to output power of an engine as a power source at the time of driving of a vehicle to a driving wheel side and having a plurality of gears in which rotational speed of the power can be shifted, comprising:

• a gear shift control unit, in the case where a target gear as a gear which becomes a target at the time of performing the gear shift control is not a present gear, for controlling a gear shift by making a gear shift determination of shifting the gear from the present gear to another gear;
• a gear shift state determining unit for determining the presence or absence of the gear shift determination;
• a gear shift time estimating unit, in the case where there is the gear shift determination, for estimating gear shift completion time as time after the gear is shifted from the present gear to the another gear until the gear is further shifted to the present gear;
• a fuel consumption estimating unit for estimating a first fuel consumption as a fuel consumption of the engine in the case where the vehicle travels for the gear shift completion time at the present gear without shifting the present gear and a second fuel consumption as a fuel consumption of the engine in the case where the gear is shifted from the present gear to the another gear and, further, shifted to the present gear;
• and
• a fuel consumption determining unit for determining validity of gear shift on the basis of the first and second fuel consumptions,
• wherein the gear shift control unit changes a determination of shifting the gear to the another gear at the time of the gear shift determination in accordance with a determination result of the fuel consumption determining unit.