Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL), India’s second-largest car manufacturer on Tuesday announced that they are naming their upcoming small car, hitherto known as the AH2 as the ‘Santro’. In doing so, the Korean carmaker has brought back the brand with which it entered the country in 1998. Sales of the original Santro ended in 2014. According to YK Koo, Managing Director, HMIL, the new Santro will be longer and wider than the earlier model and will bring back the ‘tall-boy’ design for which the original was famous. “This is the perfect product for us to launch on our twentieth anniversary in India.”
HMIL also announced that pre-bookings for the new Santro can be made from their website from 10-22 October for a notional amount of Rs 11,100 for the first 50000 customers. The Santro will be formally launched on October 23. Speaking to The Pioneer, Koo refused to speculate on the price but said that the Santro will fit between the Eon and the Grand i10 in Hyundai’s lineup. Prices are expected to range between Rs 3.5 to 5 lakh. The carmaker will offer a driver airbag and ABS as standard in anticipation of future safety norms, the top-spec Asta model will also feature a 17 centimetre touchscreen with support for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
The new Santro which has been developed extensively by Hyundai India’s research and development centre will also have an in-house developed Automated Manual Transmission (AMT) system so as to offer a clutch-less option to buyers. The car will be available only with a petrol engine, a 69PS 1.1 litre four-cylinder model. HMIL said that the Santro is the first car in its class to feature a rear air-conditioning vent.
Koo also told The Pioneer that the sudden spurt in fuel prices was a dampener to car demand but he added that new products like the Santro should left demand. However, he did also state that the carmaker which is running at full capacity was not planning to add another production line for now but expected to get incremental improvements which would add 50,000 additional units in 2019. “ We are not a volume player”, Koo declared, “we want to focus on quality, customer satisfaction and dealer profitability.” This is despite the fact that HMIL currently has waiting periods for their popular Creta and Verna models. Industry observers believe this has to do with Hyundai’s sister firm Kia entering the Indian market next year.