Hyundai Santro soon to make a comeback

Hyundai broke millions of Indian hearts when it discontinued its popular hatchback – Santro – from the market. Launched in 1998, the Hyundai Santro has been a runaway success for the South Korean carmaker in India. With an aim to free up capacity for manufacturing other cars, the company had stopped the hatchback’s production in December 2014. However, the buzz is that the beloved Santro will make a comeback in India with an evolutionary design and a new set of engines. Speaking to TOI, Y K Koo, Hyundai India MD & CEO has confirmed that the new Hyundai Santro 2018 will see a release in the second half of next year.

Interestingly, the 2018 Hyundai Santro will be introduced as a replacement to the Hyundai i10 (not the Grand i10). In order to appeal young buyers, the hatch’s new model will ditch the old ‘Tall Boy’ design. In India, the new Santro will bridge the gap between Eon mini and Grand i10. Hyundai is hoping that the next Santro will help it counter the popular Renault Kwid, which has managed to outsell most of its rivals.

Launched in 2015, the Kwid has also affected the sales of Hyundai’s entry-level Eon. Another reason behind bringing back the Santro is said to be the consistent interest and queries of customers for the Santro. Based on the findings of its marketing and sales department, the new model will be designed in India by Hyundai’s R&D centre in Hyderabad.

Reports suggest that the new Hyundai Santro’s development and launch will cost Rs 1,000 crore. Furthermore, India will be the global manufacturing hub for the new Hyundai Santro 2018. The prototype of the small car is being developed by Hyundai’s engineers in South Korea. The new model will be the first fully automatic car in its league. The Korean auto giant is also considering an AMT variant.

To withstand the new-age rivals (such as Renault Kwid and Tata Tiago), Hyundai will price the new-gen Santro quite competitively. We expect it to be priced at Rs 4 lakh for the base variant, and Rs 6 lakh for the top-spec model.

nternally known as ‘AH’, the 2018 Santro will lose its tall boy design for crossover-ish and sporty styling. In terms of appearance, it will be a lot better than the old one. The hatchback’s new-gen model will be designed on an all-new platform that already underpins the existing Kia cars. This new platform will be produced locally in the country. Though the exterior and interior details are yet to be revealed, we expect it will be more up-market in all departments than the old model.

As pre the latest buzz, the 2018 Hyundai Santro will come with two petrol engine options – a 1.1-litre iRDE and 1.2-litre Kappa. While the former one was borrowed from the old Grand i10, the latter one does duty in the hatchback’s current model. Both the powertrains will be matched to a 5-speed manual gearbox. Rumour has it that 2018 Santo will Hyundai’s first small car to get an AMT (automated manual transmission) gearbox.

With crossover-ish design, a well-equipped cabin and efficient engine setup, the 2018 Hyundai Santro model will give a tough fight to the Renault Kwid and cars like Maruti Celerio and Tata Tiago.