[volkman10]

Mod Note: Our Santro Report has been taken live at this link. Please continue the discussion over on the new thread. Thanks!

Hyundai plans to bring back Santro in 2018- could get AMT too!

Hyundai Motor India is all set to bring back the car that earned it a presence in the Indian market the original tallboy Santro. According to vendor sources, the new Santro is currently under development in South Korea and will come to India in around two years.

The entry-level tallboy model is once again creating a buzz with unconfirmed media reports claiming Maruti is reportedly mulling a tallboy avatar for its Alto. Hyundai, for its part, is getting aggressive with its product pipeline

http://auto.economictimes.indiatimes...antro/52198668

[libranof1987]

With Eon, i10 and Grand i10, that space is so crowded for Hyundai itself; I wonder where they will place this speculated Santro. Unless of course, they ditch the Eon or i10.

Also, the article says Hyundai plans to bring in a sub 4m <1000cc compact SUV in 2019. That's three years away! Too long to bet on a current trend?! This could go either way.

[farooq817]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

With Eon, i10 and Grand i10, that space is so crowded for Hyundai itself; I wonder where they will place this speculated Santro. Unless of course, they ditch the Eon or i10.

Also, the article says Hyundai plans to bring in a sub 4m <1000cc compact SUV in 2019. That's three years away! Too long to bet on a current trend?! This could go either way.

Agreed that it will be crowded. But it might be that Hyundai does not bother of the product overlap as long as the customer takes home a car from their showroom. This is exactly the same strategy that Maruti uses. They are happy as long as the customer stays in the showroom. And with the versatile nature of the factories that produce these cars, it will not be a problem for the manufacturer to shift based on the demand.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

...Unless of course, they ditch the Eon or i10...

The i10 (old version) is available only for the taxi market as of now. So that's a space which the Santro can occupy in the line up.

[Omkar]

The Hyundai Santro is rumoured to be making a return to the Indian market. According to media reports, a new Santro is currently under development in South Korea and is expected to come to India around two years from now.

Reports also suggest that Hyundai dealers were still receiving inquiries regarding the Santro even after it had been phased out, which led the manufacturer to consider bringing the car back.

The Santro made its entry in the Indian market in September 1998. The car was a hit and sold over 1.9 million units until its production was stopped in January 2015. The car helped Hyundai make its mark in the Indian market.

The Santro was given regular updates during its lifecycle. Hyundai was selling almost 2,500 units of the car even during the end of its time. The Santro replaced the Premier Padmini taxis in Mumbai and was a favourite among taxi owners. Even after the launch of the Eon at a similar price to the Santro, the car was sold alongside the new models of the Hyundai line-up.

Source: ET Auto

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

In simpler words- Hyundai publicly acknowledges that Eon was a failure and this left a gap in their portfolio below the Grand i10.

[landcruiser123]

I think this could a car targeted specifically at the emerging markets and might be the replacement to the Eon.

After Renault launched the Kwid, it's the Eon that's taken the worst beating.

[mallumowgli]

Curiously The Hindu Businessline carries an article on SRK and his link with Santro and Hyundai

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...cle8577231.ece

Obviously a paid article - means Santro, if it is back, will again have SRK as the brand ambassador

[procrastinator]

Why not promote the i10?
It's already available in their portfolio and can have a safer body to meet 2017 crash tests.

[RSR]

I guess Hyundai have realised the Santro name has tremendous brand value attached to it, and are planning to utilise the same for a car that would eventually replace the i10 (not Grand i10).

In a way, this is like Škoda's act of replacing the old Octavia with the Laura, and then deciding to bring back the Octavia name for the Laura's replacement. The only difference is that the i10's next generation is already here (in the form of Grand i10).

The new Santro or "AH" could be the car they're developing as a response to the hugely successful Kwid. It may, however, not be positioned directly against the Kwid, but slightly above it. This car is likely to be powered by the 3-cylinder Kappa 1.0 petrol & U2 1.1 CRDi engines (and possibly the 4-cylinder Kappa 1.2 petrol).

[Dhruba_Nazira]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

In simpler words- Hyundai publicly acknowledges that Eon was a failure and this left a gap in their portfolio below the Grand i10.

Somehow I have this feeling that it is the i10 (not grand i10) that is going to be replaced by the new Santro. Eon comes in a lower segment and is not doing all that bad, still in the top 20 list. I know that the present i10 is a downgraded version, still the score of around 2000 per month that it is doing now is rather too low keeping in mind its glorious past.

[JediKnight]

This will be an entirely new car. They will just use the Santro name. For example Maruti Baleno.

[aaggoswami]

Hyundai is trying to use a successful nameplate to gain back what it lost though they tried hard with Eon. New Santro is welcome, but it would join Eon, i10 which results into overlap. Not all manufacturers have succeeded when it comes to overlap specially in entry level segment. Placing new Santro below Grand i10 while phasing out Eon+i10 might help new product to gain traction factoring in the famous Santro badge. Wonder what will it be powered with, I suspect that the new Santro will have improved revisions of their current 0.8 and 1.0 ltr motors. Santro Xing was very responsive with that 1.1 unit, I hope that Hyundai manages to tune their 1.0 equally good and place it under new Santro's hood.
Hyundai has been bringing back old names, like Xcent ( related to Accent ) and now Santro.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Since Accent became Xcent
How about Santro becoming ZenTro?
Some throwback to the good old days when they used to troll Maruti Zen with their Santro ads.

Originally Posted by Dhruba_Nazira

Somehow I have this feeling that it is the i10 (not grand i10) that is going to be replaced by the new Santro.

True. That is why I mentioned 'below Grand i10' as it competes almost near to the Swift territory.

What Hyundai really needs is a machine to compete directly against the hot selling WagonR and Celerio, the segment vacated by the old Santro when i10 and subsequently Grand i10 went half a segment higher in quality and features and not to mention - price.

Originally Posted by Dhruba_Nazira

Eon comes in a lower segment and is not doing all that bad, still in the top 20 list. I know that the present i10 is a downgraded version, still the score of around 2000 per month that it is doing now is rather too low keeping in mind its glorious past.

Eon competes in a segment where it is not even worth mentioning that the sales are in the top 20 cars in the country. For example, it sold around 5500 cars in March 2016 - which is way less than that of competitors like WagonR (~14500), Celerio (~9000) etc and more expensive cars like Grand i10 (~9500), Swift (~14500), Elite i20 (~10000) etc.

The initial sales target declared for the Eon was around 12500 units per month, and the actual numbers are only around 44% of Hyundai's expectations. Not very hard to imagine that Hyundai would definitely want the new model to take the fight back to Maruti - and hence the revival of Santro badge for the next generation.

[mvadg]

Post deleted by the Team-BHP Support : Please do NOT post messages that add little or no informational value to the thread. We need your co-operation to maintain the quality of this forum.

Please read our rules before proceeding any further. We request you to post ONLY when you have something substantial to add to a discussion.