Hyundai has again put an end to the Santro’s journey in our country and halted production at its Tamilnadu plant. The Hyundai Santro is one of India’s most recognisable hatchbacks. It made a tremendous impression on the Indian public when it was first released in 1998. However, as time passed, the hatchback was unable to keep up with the competition, and sales rapidly fell. Hence, keeping these things in mind, the manufacturer decided to terminate the model in India.
In 2018, Hyundai relaunched the Santro as a more premium replacement for the discontinued Eon. However, during that time, competition in the hatchback segment reached its heights and there were other tough contenders apart from Maruti Suzuki. The cars from Tata, Renault, Ford, and Chevrolet acted as the biggest rivals for the Hyundai Santro. Despite the fact that Santro maintenance was very affordable, potential customers preferred Maruti Suzuki for its services and maintenance expenses.
The Hyundai Santro is powered by a 1.1-litre MPI petrol engine with 69 PS of maximum power and 99 Nm of peak torque. When using CNG, power and torque output are reduced to 60 PS and 85.3 Nm, respectively. While petrol models have 5-speed manual and Smart Auto AMT gearbox options, the Santro CNG only has a 5-speed manual transmission. The safety features on the hatch include rear parking sensors, a rear parking camera, a rear defogger, a speed-detecting auto door lock, twin airbags, ABS with EBD, and so on.
As stated by the dealerships, the forthcoming law requiring six airbags is also a significant reason for Santro’s demise. The installation of four airbags will significantly raise the price, which is unjustified for an entry-level vehicle. Furthermore, with the approaching BS6.2 emission standards, updating the 1.1-litre engine, which is only offered on the Santro, would not be financially viable.
