[blackasta]

I think it shall be a totally new tallboy car with just the Santro tag being reused. Just like Hyundai reused/recycled the Accent tag.
At present the old i10 is the sole tallboy car in Hyundai's portfolio and it is not doing enough to give WagonR a decent competition.
Put the new Santro as a no nonsense car with AC+PS+Airbags, not too many variants, plonk the 1L engine doing duty in the eon and have some exciting colors.
No need for ICE/speakers/power windows etc. - that should help to keep the price competitive.
And yes - have a CNG/LPG variant.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by 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).

Hyundai will (and definitely should) revive the Santro brand. Sucks that it was discontinued, despite the immense goodwill it enjoyed. Here is a 15 year old car that sold 4,000 / month with zero effort & marketing.

Originally Posted by libranof1987

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.

While I agree that Hyundai missed the compact SUV market by a mile, they did make up with the success of the Creta. The Creta outsells compact SUVs at a significantly higher price!

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.

I wouldn't call the Eon a failure - that's too strong a word for a car that is still a Top 20 seller, and single-handedly sells more than the total sales of some MNCs.

However, I would definitely say it's 'below expectations' and 'below the potential' of what a car can manage with Hyundai's backing. More than the fluidic styling, that weak 0.8L petrol put customers off. Heck, the Santro had a superior motor with much strong driveability.

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by GTO

More than the fluidic styling, that weak 0.8L petrol put customers off.

I know this experience firsthand from my dad's eon - the 800cc motor is just enough for driver + 1 passenger + couple of handbags.
Anything more, the engine is strained. With 5 people onboard, you cannot climb a flyover without switching off your AC.

[sajands]

Is there any small car from the KIA platform that Hyundai could introduce as the new Santro there were talks of Hyundai introducing the KIA range on the Indian roads.

[YashD]

The i-gen i10 is already at the end of it's life cycle, the Eon desperately needs an update now and as per rumors it will indeed get one this year which will give the car a couple of years more until the next generation arrives. Now, In my opinion Hyundai will launch the Santro, load it with features, great styling and plonk in the tried and tested Epsilon motor with few updates and launch the vehicle discontinuing both Eon and i10. We all know that the Santro moniker has extremely high value, so instead of launching it as the next generation Eon, the old Santro name plate would be retained and will be positioned below Grand i10. The manufacturer wants to improve it's brand value and overall customer experience as it's trying to target the upper segments and also has plans to introduce it's Genesis line up hence I don't think they would like to keep a lot of low budget vehicles in the product portfolio. Moreover, Hyundai can definitely take on that entire segment with just one vehicle. Even with MS selling so many products at a similar price point, the Santro would still be in the top 3 selling cars in India during its reign.

[KiloAlpha]

Originally Posted by sajands

Is there any small car from the KIA platform that Hyundai could introduce as the new Santro there were talks of Hyundai introducing the KIA range on the Indian roads.

That would be the KIA Picanto. Just for comparison of the two cars, overall exterior dimensions are below.

Hyundai Santro Xing
Length: 3565mm
Width : 1525mm
Height: 1590mm
Ground Clearance: 172mm

KIA Picanto
Length: 3595mm
Width : 1595mm
Height: 1490mm
Ground Clearance: 152mm

The Picanto comes with options of 1.2 and 1.0 litre petrol engines.

On a separate note, while the revival of the "Santro" badge is a good idea, given its recall and brand value in the market, I do wish (and this is purely subjective) they make the driving position a little more comfortable for the likes of me? I had severe ankle pain driving both Santro and Ritz. Might just be me, though, as my B-I-L is same height/build and he had no issues!
Whatever engine they choose to put into the new car, the driveability characteristics of the old engine needs to be retained.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by sajands

Is there any small car from the KIA platform that Hyundai could introduce as the new Santro there were talks of Hyundai introducing the KIA range on the Indian roads.

KIA is speculated to debut in India as an independent brand

[Nissan1180]

I liked the Santro for what it did for India-it broke Maruti's monopoly like nothing else could. The Indica seemed to succeed initially, but then the niggles showed their face. The Santro is one car that has very few unhappy owners. It was a class-less car. Rich people drove it in the city, the middle class have it as their only car. It was spacious, comfortable, stable on the highway and fuel efficient.
The Eon seems like a compromise in comparison. It is cramped.
The goodwill commanded by the Santro brand was such that people aspired to own it. It popularized the power steering in India with the zip drive advertisements by Shah Rukh Khan. I was in school back then...I remember the first advertisement that I saw for this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imjeuiaB_fY

I really hope they re-launch the Santro as a product that was as revolutionary as the Santro was in 1998. Lets hope to have another 'sunshine car'.

[YashD]

As per recent reports going around the internet, Hyundai's upcoming small car codenamed AH (Next generation Eon or Santro) will be the first car from it's stable to feature an AMT Transmission in 2018. The company will self develop this gearbox unlike other brands who have outsourced it. The manufacturer is further planning to use this gearbox in it's Grand i10 and Xcent Compact Sedan.

[BB311]

It would be an even bigger return of a badge after baleno and perhaps the biggest one in this decade. I still miss my golden colored 1998 model DX 2 Santro which I used till 2012 and sold it with an odo reading of 2.78 lakh km.

[volkman10]

Reports indicate the Santro spied on test, to replace Hyundai's i10! Code named AH it is speculated to get a 1.0L engine with AMT as a variant.




https://motoroctane.com/news/25276-h...ns-launch-date

[simplyself]

Hyundai shouldn't have discontinued the Santro. It was selling in decent numbers, without any marketing. Majority of its sales were from towns which were waking up to the car hitherto not very much seen in towns.

It had a reputation for being low on maintenance and with the introduction of LPG version, districts were quite interested. Not that LPG dispensing stations were present; filling in from domestic LPG cylinders was easy and rampant.

EON was not in Santro's league.

Hyundai's loss could have been Wagon R 's gain.

[RavenAvi]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Reports indicate the Santro spied on test

The "spied" front picture is of the Proton Iriz, not the "caught-on-camera" Santro.

(Source)

Also, the "spied" second picture is of a test mule of the Proton P2-30A global small car on a highway in Malaysia.

(Source)

Both pictures were posted almost 27 months ago!

Also, according to Hyundai, they will be doing the entire development and all the testing of the new Santro at Korea. We might see testing mules in India by next year, if we are lucky.

[YashD]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Also, according to Hyundai, they will be doing the entire development and all the testing of the new Santro at Korea. We might see testing mules in India by next year, if we are lucky.

Even though the car will be entirely developed in Korea, I think it will hit the Indian shores quite soon. The Indian car market is one of the key market for the Santro and has an extremely well reputation here, I am quite certain that Hyundai will extensively test the Santro in Indian driving conditions. Also as per rumors, Hyundai is developing a new 1.0L Petrol Engine for the same, the epsilon motor will not be carried over on the 2018 Santro. The manufacturer is definitely going to go all in with this vehicle and take on the half of the entry level segment of Maruti Suzuki head on!

[YashD]

As per the latest reports by MotorOctane, their sources in the industry has confirmed that the new Santro codenamed as AH will be powered by a 1.0L Petrol engine mated to a 5 Speed Manual Gearbox and AMT Transmission.

The car will replace the current i-gen i10 and will be launched on Hyundai's 20th Anniversary in October, 2018.

Hyundai began it's journey in the Indian Auto Industry with the launch of Santro in October, 1998.

I am just confused now, what is the future of Eon then? Is Hyundai planning to discontinue the vehicle altogether or are they going to sell it alongside Santro?