Santro is the first car Hyundai launched in India, back in the late 90s. The car became the face of Hyundai India. Sadly, after 16 years in service, without major upgrade, Hyundai decided to stop production of Santro back in early 2015. This was a hard decision taken by Hyundai as the car was still clocking decent sales number of 3,000 units. But what it was also doing – eating into the limited production capacity of Hyundai India.
With new generation cars like Creta, Elite i20, Grand i10, Xcent on sale, which were not only more profitable, but were also more in demand, Hyundai India were left with no other choice but to discontinue the Santro from Indian market.
A few months later, Hyundai decided to discontinue another small car, the i10. This was done for same reasons mentioned above. Also, its sales are nowhere close to that of rivals Maruti Alto or Renault Kwid or the Tata Tiago. In order to increase their presence in the entry-level market, Hyundai is working on re-launching new generation Santro next year. It is this car which has now been spied again.
This new Santro will be better equipped to rival the competition. It will not only be bigger in dimensions, but will also offer more space on the inside as well as features. Extensive research has gone into the making of the new Hyundai Santro by the company’s R&D center in South Korea.
This ‘Made in India’ product is being developed at a cost of INR 1,000 crores and has been approved by company’s headquarters in Seoul. New generation Hyundai Santro is estimated to be offered with either an 800cc or 1.0 liter petrol engine and will be the first fully automatic car in its segment while the automaker is also considering introduction of an AMT variant. Launch is scheduled to take place by H@ 2018, but it will most likely make its global debut at the 2018 Auto Expo in February 2018.
Set to come in with a new design and updated features, new gen Hyundai Santro is slated to be offered with enhanced engine, comfortable interiors, while pricing is estimated to be in the INR 4-6 lakh category. India will serve as the manufacturing base for the new Santro which will be sold across the globe, especially in those countries where small cars are in increased demand.
Hyundai (Grand) i10 Sport
