Saw this car being driven at high speed in Gurugram today evening. Think it is the Santo avatar.
The shape of the car looks a lot like the original i10 IMO. It would most likely be a kind of a refreshed i10 with updated interiors, modern day features and new lamp & bumper designs to align the overall look to their fluidic design language. They are not even bothered to cover the top portion of the car for quite some time now.
Basically it seems to be the i10 with the revised Fluidic Sculpture 2.0 design philosophy - i.e more squarish shapes, more European and better body stiffness and aerodynamics.
I'd have preferred if they had stuck to the original Santro Xing shape externally, atleast as much as possible while making minor tweaks like the new grille and revised reflector design at back but that won't be possible anymore. What Hyundai needs to be really careful about with this car is pricing - while it may no doubt be the quality leader in its segment, its chief rivals will remain the Alto, Wagon R and Kwid whose positions are unassailable for now. The new Santro must be a clear segment below Grand i10 while being half a segment above Eon in terms of space, refinement and solidity.
In anycase with the Eon doing decent numbers without any advertising, the new Santro (and I strongly recommend that they name it Santro) endorsed by their only brand ambassador Shahrukh Khan can easily cross the 5-6k mark per month. Unfortunately aspirational values are high in the country today so Santro may not be the halo product that it was when it first entered the market but if Hyundai loads it with practical storage cubicles like before, makes the seating high and snug and also gives it a large window area then it may just become the segment favourite for families on a budget. The Grand i10 at a couple of lakhs more would be a more complete car.
If Hyundai keeps the pricing right (in 3 to 5.5 lacs bracket), then, with a 4 cylinder engine, this car will completely destroy all competition with all the other entry level 3 cyl hatchbacks.
Especially when Santro (is it's named so) is known for its ruggedness and reliability.
Santro - Preview
There was a preview of the upcoming Santro here and I was invited to review it as a part of their market study/research before the final production launch. This was a restricted entry only for certain group of car owners (like the grand i10 - from Jan '17 model). They had asked me to bring the original RC book for them to verify and I stated that it was not in my name. After reaching there, I had to wait for half n hour for a group of people to verify it. After knowing that it was not under my name, they rejected me entry (This was after I told them this fact and they acknowledged that it wouldn't be a problem).
Anyways, my wife was nearby and asked her to come. While the car enthusiast (me) had to wait outside, someone who didn't show any interest at first (wife) went to review the car (more on this later). So these observations are all from my wife. Some may not make it to the production model.
1) 4 cars displayed - Tiago, Celerio, WagonR and the new Santro (all silver).
2) The badges were all covered so that the reviewer won't know which car they were reviewing.
3) The reviewer was asked to rank the car based on various factors.
4) Finally they would explain the features of the new Santro (well, we need to ask and get it from them).
5) The place was entirely sealed.
More about the Santro
1) Exterior character lines (next to wheel arch is sort of triangle shaped - wife remembered a guitar strikerand it was there near the front and rear wheel arch).
2) Bonnet similar to the latest cars from Hyundai. Not till the end.
(image taken as reference)
3) No alloys seen. The wheel cap was different from the spy shots posted here. But she said it was shaped like a fan.
4) Back passenger glass is like mobilio. There's a small dip and not straight.
5) Option for CNG fitment (extra). Think there's a CNG variant for the taxi market. But this is available for passengers too (50k extra - maybe a CNG variant itself).
6) Boot opens very quickly. (She compared with other cars there and this almost hit her face. Maybe a faulty gas strut. She gave her feedback on this).
7) Back is similar to grand i10.
8) Flat boot - no or minimal load lip, boot light, suspension intrusion is more.
9) Window controls behind the gear lever (She said this was so wrong and preferred the control on the door pad).
10) Steering similar to grand i10 (yes, steering mounted controls present).
11) She didn't notice any MID on the instrument cluster and remember seeing a small and thin stalk (might be to reset the trip meter?). It's something not seen on Hyundai.
12) Weird shaped ac vent - fan design with a projected center section/knob/cone (similar to the aeroplane nose) to change the direction of the vent.
13) Front fog is placed high - just below the headlights.
14) Old school pull up exterior door handles. (Similar to duster).
15) No touchscreen - small display (like the one in the Tiago).
16) Interiors were all smooth plastic but said it wasn't the finished product. Center console was black while the side was beige. Again, this wasn't the final finish.
17) Seats similar to i10 - fixed headrests (front and rear).
18) Bottle holder in place of the rear ac vent for the rear passenger.
19) Bulky headlights and taillights. Reminded of wagonr. Not sleek like in other Hyundai cars.
20) Power, torque similar to the Maruti stable. Wife said Tiago felt more powerful.
21) Front mounted antenna is weirdly shaped - a bit curved to match the roof angle and it's design is similar to the first gen grand i10.
(image taken as reference)
22) ORVM is small but powered and comes with indicators.
23) No push button start/keyless entry on the model displayed.
24) Rear wiper similar to the i10 (not grand).
25) Rear bumper sports the black finish similar to the facelift grand 10 but comes with a straight reflector and not round.
26) My wife took more than 2 hours to come out (and this is from a person who wasn't interested. She was a bit sad that I had to wait outside and she got the opportunity to cover the review. So made use of the time).
27) She also said to bring in more genuine and interested customers for the review/feedback since they can help a lot (yes, she meant - me)
A note to Hyundai (if you are reading this)
1)All know that you are spending a lot on such surveys/market studies etcbut please make sure it's properly done and not wasted. I came to know that there were atleast 7 agencies to which it was sub contracted. So the level of dedication/professionalism goes for a spin.
2) I could see that targets were given to such agencies and these guys were running around to find customers who were not interested while I had to simply wait outside (BHPian, car enthusiast, 3 hyundais - won't that qualify to give a feedback on an upcoming car?). I could even see kids and service center guys being let inside. These guys were literally forcing/begging some customers to come for the namesake (yes, and am still sitting idle outside).
3) The agencies to whom you guys subcontracted were rude and ill mannered. These guys were sitting and smoking in front of the hall entrance - Come on Hyundai, hire some professional guys. There were ladies visiting. (Here's one example). The place was littered with cigarette buds, coffee cups etc and I could see these guys littering all over the place.
4) All customers were given a box of snacks (I could count atleast 10 items in that box), unlimited number of coffees/water bottles (yes, I had to use it since I was sitting outside doing nothing for 2 hours :D) and a convenience charge (guess that's what attracted the kids).
Amazing that you sat 2 hours after getting entry denied. You must be REALLY curious about the Santro!
