Hyundai Santro: What to Expect?

Hyundai’s nostalgic small car – Hyundai Santro is going to have a new life in the year 2018. Here is everything we expect from Hyundai Santro 2018.

Hyundai’s iconic small car Santro is all-set to make a comeback to India next year. The Hyundai Santro was a very successful hatchback in the Indian market, which was first launched in the year 1998. The Santro soon became a very popular car amongst Indian families and it has majorly helped Hyundai Motors in expanding their brand reputation and presence in the Indian automobile market during its initial years in India.

Launched as a rival to Maruti Suzuki 800 and Zen, Santro managed to create its space in the competitive hatchback segment. However, with increasing competition and decreasing demand, Hyundai decided to discontinue Santro in the year 2014. Now, Hyundai India CEO, YK Koo has confirmed their plan to launch a new compact family car in the second half of 2018, which is expected to be Hyundai Santro 2018.

Hyundai Santro 2018: What we can expect?

Currently, there is no Hyundai hatchback on sale in the segment between the entry-level Eon and Grand i10. Ever since the exit of Santro and later i10, Hyundai felt the absence in this segment. And now, this compact family car codenamed as AH will be positioned in this segment, where it will compete with Renault Kwid, Datsun RediGO, Tata Tiago and Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 and Maruti Suzuki Celerio. Going with the words of Hyundai India CEO, YK Koo, “the new contemporary family oriented product”, will be “bigger and wider” than the previous car referencing the Santro.

And hence, we can expect that the new Hyundai Santro will be bigger, better and more powerful that the one which ruled the sales charts for 16 years. It must be noted that Hyundai sold close to 1.4 million Santro cars between 1998 and 2014. And now, with the new compact family car with same name will help Hyundai to cherish the trust and love showered on the Santro car.

Hyundai Santro 2018 Exterior, Interiors and Safety

Currently, we don’t have any expected design or sketch of the upcoming 2018 Hyundai Santro. However, we believe that the new Santro won’t have the tall boy designed as it had before. The new hatchback will have a premium touch on the exterior and interiors as well. The Hyundai designers would ensure that the new Santro looks attractive, appealing and is great in terms of space and comfort on the interior.

The exterior is expected to be sporty and bold with newly designed headlamps, fog lamps and LED DRLs as well on the top-end variant. On the inside, we can definitely expect a touch screen infotainment system with GPS-based navigation and Bluetooth connectivity feature. Since other cars in the segment already offer these features, Hyundai won’t overlook the need of the same if it has to shine in the segment. For safety, we expect dual-airbags to be a standard feature. Keyless entry, push start/stop button, electric OVRMs with turn light indicators can be a part of features on the top-end variant.

Hyundai Santro 2018 Engine

Several reports surfaced online claim that Hyundai Santro 2018 could be powered by the trusted 1.2L Kappa petrol engine that currently powers the Grand i10. However, we believe that Hyundai may roll-out the new Santro with an 800cc, 1.0L or 1.1L petrol engine coupled with 5-speed manual gearbox. An AMT variant can also be an option.

Hyundai Santro 2018 Launch Date & Price in India

The new Hyundai Santro 2018 can be unveiled at the upcoming Auto Expo 2018, to be held in New Delhi next year. And later, it would have its official launch in the second half of 2018. The new Hyundai Santro can be priced between Rs.4-5 lakhs to ensure a tough time for its rivals.