All New Hyundai Santro Coming To India Next Year

It was during the Hyundai Tucson drive last year that we informed you that the South Korean car-maker will bring back the popular Santro to India. Now we have confirmation that Hyundai will launch the all new Santro by mid-2018 and it could be showcased at the Auto Expo 2018. Launched in 1998, the Santro quickly became a household name and helped Hyundai make a name for itself in the Indian market. Sadly, the iconic small car was discontinued in 2014 after 16 glorious years.

Also Read: All-New Hyundai Santro To Arrive In India In 2018

When asked of a possibility if Santro will be making a comeback to India, Y K Koo, MD & CEO, Hyundai India, confirmed to carandbike.com that the car-makers are definitely working on a small car. He said, "We will launch a new compact family car for the Indian audience by mid-2018."

Although, details are still sketchy as regards to the new Santro, it is believed that it will shed its tall boy stance, while remaining more spacious than the discontinued model. On the inside, the new Santro will host an array of features giving it a more premium feel. Under the hood, the Santro will be powered by a 0.8-litre and a 1.0-litre engine options with transmission duties to be carried out by a 5-Speed Manual Transmission.

Also Read: Hyundai Santro to Return to India: Report

The new model, codenamed, AH2, will take the Santro nameplate once it becomes production ready and will be placed between the Eon and the new Grand i10. With a cumulative sales figure of 13.6 lakh units, Santro became one of the best sellers for Hyundai with a total of 18.95 lakh units sold in its lifetime. It managed to give stiff competition to Maruti Suzuki, which was leading the segment at the time with the Alto 800. What makes the Santro even more special is that it managed to sell close to 2000 units till it was discontinued in 2014. When launched, the new Santro will take on the likes of Renault Kwid, Datsun redi-GO, Tata Tiago and of course the Maruti Suzuki Alto K10. While the Santro won't be the entry level vehicle from Hyundai, we expect the prices to start at Rs. 4 lakh.