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New 2018 Hyundai Santro spied, likely to break cover at Auto Expo next year

As speculated, the new Hyundai Santro compact hatchback is expected to be powered by a 1.1-litre iRDE that will make about 62 hp of maximum power.

Old Hyundai Santro. Image for representation purpose only
Old Hyundai Santro. Image for representation purpose only

New 2018 Hyundai Santro has been spotted testing for the first and the initial images suggest that compact hatchback is almost production ready. Hyundai had announced during the launch of the Verna’s earlier this year that the brand was about to introduce a new compact hatchback. While there has not been an official statement on the matter from Hyundai India, it is widely believed that the new small car from the South Korean brand will be the new 2018 Hyundai Santro. An upgrade for the ever so popular Santro, now discontinued, has been long overdue. We now know the new hatchback is closer to its production version since a test mule was recently spotted on test. The image of the 2018 Hyundai Santro posted by Rushlane does not reveal much since the car is under dark wraps, but it is clear that the new Hyundai Santro will have Hyundai’s popular ‘tall boy’ stance and the windows and C-pillar appear similar to those of the Hyundai i10. Likely to be revealed at Auto Expo 2018, the new Hyundai Santro will be positioned between the Hyundai Eon and Hyundai Grand i10 in the company’s portfolio as the company has discontinued the i10.

As speculated, the new Hyundai Santro compact hatchback is expected to be powered by a 1.1-litre iRDE that will make about 62 hp of maximum power. The same engine also powered the Santro Xing. The carmaker is also expected to launch the car with a 1.2-litre Kappa petrol engine or a smaller 800cc option. The engines are likely to be mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. Considering the demand and popularity for the automatic transmission in India, the company may launch some variants of the Santro with an automatic gearbox.

If the Santro is launched again, expect it to look radically different from the old Santro, both in and out. Information about the car is very little but the Hyundai Santro could get a touchscreen infotainment unit as cars like the Kwid from a segment below too have it now. The hatchback will also get safety equipment such as dual front airbags and ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) as standard since soon these will become mandatory.

While there is so far no confirmation if the new hatchback will carry the Santro nameplate, but considering the popularity the brand earned with this little car is humungous, it just may be. The Santro is pretty much the car that helped Hyundai expand in India. In the 90s, the Santro’s design was radically different and was much appreciated. Back then, there weren’t as many options in the segment, whereas today the competition has grown significantly.

The new Hyundai Santro is expected to be priced around Rs 4 lakh, ex-showroom and will rival against the likes of the Maruti Suzuki WagonR and Tata Tiago. The company might showcase the car in production version at the upcoming 2018 Auto Expo and launch it around mid-2018.

Image: Rushlane

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First published on: 21-11-2017 at 13:18 IST
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