Apparatus for controlling by commanding an optimum gear position based on the speed of travel of the vehicle and the amount of accelerator opening thereof, comprises a control circuit (2) including first computing means for computing the engine output for the optimum gear position and second computing means for computing the running resistance of the vehicle for the optimum gear position. A comparator compares the computed engine output and the computed running resistance, and the optimum gear position is modified based on the result of the comparison effected by the comparison means. If the optimum gear position requires a shift-up from the present gear position, the shift-up to the otpimum gear position is inhibited if the running resistance is larger than the engine output. If the optimum gear position is the present gear position, the gear transmission is shifted down if the running resistance is larger than the engine output for the present gear position.
