[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by 2000rpm

Smart move, its better to cut losses especially at dealer level where working capital is at a premium. With ~20 units monthly sales, its not worth maintaining the cost elements likle inventory, demo vehicles, sales training infrastructure, showroom space, etc.

Well pointed out! They were really not making enough sales to maintain those demo vehicles all over the places. Demo vehicles would have outnumbered sales figures .

Originally Posted by 2000rpm

From a buyer perspective, they are in a mess. They bought a premium car which is average at best in all departments, thus limiting any potential for this car to be a vintage / cult car. All they will enjoy is poor resale and higher maintain costs.

As evident on roads and even on the forum, this number of customers is very small, perhaps thankfully.

Originally Posted by 2000rpm

Lets see how this one spans out. Santa Fe owners request you to please share the service experience going forward. Would be a good way to study "End-of-life" strategy of Hyundai.

We already have countless Accent, Getz, Santro owners happy with their long discontinued cars getting all the service they need. So that shouldn't be a worry from a brand perspective. I feel we can safely assume Hyundai will ensure that the existing customers get all the spares they need for quite a while ahead.
Obviously the spares will be quite costly thanks to low demand & there will be longer waiting duration as many times these will get imported also.

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

So the Santa Fe joins Hyundai's list of non performers:

1. Sonata/Embera.
2. Elantra.
3. Tucson.
4. Terracan.

The writing on the wall is clear, the consumer isn't kicked up by the idea of a premium Hyundai yet.

Well, the customer surely got kicked by the premium priced Creta, quite well.
By the way, the Elantra (in the present gen) is not really a failure.

[narayan]

Although a bit early to conclude, but I also feel Hyundai will slowly cap itself out with the Creta segment and leave the space above that for Kia to bring in their equivalent models. A new brand with premium positioning from day 1 will be more capable of asking for top $$ from customers than a brand like Hyundai which started off with the humble Santro ( having said which Hyundai by itself has made HUGE strides to uptier its brand positioning in the Indian market - something which even Maruti has not been successful yet - with the Nexa circus )

[vb-saan]

It’s not really a surprise. I think Hyundai got it pretty wrong with the packaging of this cross-over. Their idea of packing the product with fancy comfort features work well at the lower end, but anything above 20 lakhs, the VFM aspect is gauged by what it offers as a complete package. This is where the Germans really excel. A GLA for example may have manual AC, or the X1 may not have auto headlamps, but still packs in all safety features from the base variant itself. In Hyundai’s case even a 15 lakhs Creta has more safety features than some of the base/mid variants of Santa Fe and Tucson. I won’t be surprised even if the Tucson soon goes out of the market.

[Zinda]

In my opinion, Hyundai's never intended to sell Santa Fe in huge numbers. The reason they brought it in India was same as VW brought Phaeton! Brand presence. They want people know that Hyundai's product line up has thoroughbred cars to compete in almost all segments from Alto to Fortuner.

If Hyundai was really serious, they could have tried to maximize the localization to keep costs in check.

[motorworks]

Originally Posted by i74js

Creta offers 70% of SantaFe at a fraction of its price while Tucson offers 90% of it. Even if I consider a single segment here, Tucson looks to be VFM against SantaFe when parked next to each other in the same showroom.

And going by your logic the Elite i20 cross offers 50% of the Santa fe? Seriously?

Santa Fe failed because it was pricier than the Fortuner and the Endy and let's face it, the Fortuner and the Endeavour have that image of "Macho SUVs" which the Santa Fe wasn't. Also, Hyundai never really marketed it aggressively, sure they launched it, but after that not much buzz, when compared to say what Ford did with the Endeavour.

It's a very difficult segment to be in, the 35-40 lakh SUV is Fortuner's territory and the Endeavour's numbers are not even 1/3rd of the Toyota SUV.

I think it's good for Hyundai to let go off the Santa Fe, they should now concentrate on getting the Tucson's prices a little lower to match the Jeep Compass, maybe even introduce new lower variants like the Sport one in the Compass.

[octane_100]

Originally Posted by Zinda

In my opinion, Hyundai's never intended to sell Santa Fe in huge numbers.

Completely agree. If I am not wrong, from day one it was priced higher than Fortuner which is kind of a "gold standard" for its class.

It seems that they are continuing the same strategy with Tucson as well!

[Arjun Reddy]

So if Hyundai were to add AWD and ventilated seats on Tucson, and price it around 50-100 k over the GLS AT would it then make it a good buy?
Or better still just replace the GLS AT with the AWD version at the same price.

Would this change be considered as value?

[octane_100]

I don't think it is purely the feature set. If one is spending north of 30L, he/she would a) want to be noticed and then b) feel good factor inside-out and c) a minority want a good driving experience

Though there's nothing wrong with Tucson, it doesn't feel special. The interior design is nothing to write home about, nor does it appeal to the enthusiast with its dynamics. Then there is the badge!

Being an owner of i20, nowadays the bigger Hyundais except Elantra seem like grown up i20s to me!

[amitk2kin]

Originally Posted by octane_100

Being an owner of i20, nowadays the bigger Hyundais except Elantra seem like grown up i20s to me!

I can't agree with you less, I was in the market for an soft roader a little while back, had back to back test drives of both, while I liked the cars, I wasn't comfortable spending 30+ on Hyundai. RIP.

[GTO]

I liked this SUV. A bit saddened as it's come too early - the current Santa Fe was barely on sale for ~3 years. Hyundai should have continued to sell it, if for nothing else, just to have a strong flagship product.

The Santa Fe was great looking, had a sweet diesel, sorted road manners & neat interiors. But it was overpriced from day 1, and didn't have features that it should have (e.g. sunroof).

I think customers are now very comfortable with spending 20 lakhs on a Hyundai. But 35? The brand isn't there yet.

Originally Posted by itwasntme

My neighbor has an immaculate 2013 top end specimen and he will have a nervous breakdown when he hears this. Even though he keeps his cars very very well, the resale is pathetic as per his enquiries.

Other than the Fortuner, every 25+ lakh car has terrible resale . Tell him to hold onto it for a long time.

Originally Posted by skchettry

The other factor, as one of my friends has put it, magnify Creta and you will get Tucson, magnify Tucson and you will get the Santa Fe; there's hardly anything outwardly that differentiates one from the other.

Well said .

Originally Posted by 2000rpm

Smart move, its better to cut losses especially at dealer level where working capital is at a premium. With ~20 units monthly sales, its not worth maintaining the cost elements likle inventory, demo vehicles, sales training infrastructure, showroom space, etc.

Bang on with the reasoning.

Originally Posted by bigron

In-fact I was toying with the idea of letting go of my 2012 Innova and pick a used 2015 Santa Fe. I might still go ahead.

You definitely should. It's a lot of SUV for the prices it trades hands at.

Originally Posted by narayan

A new brand with premium positioning from day 1 will be more capable of asking for top $$ from customers than a brand like Hyundai which started off with the humble Santro

There's nothing premium about brand 'Kia'. Would disagree.

Originally Posted by Zinda

In my opinion, Hyundai's never intended to sell Santa Fe in huge numbers. The reason they brought it in India was same as VW brought Phaeton!

True. I sent many people to Hyundai showrooms, but they always complained that there wasn't a Santa Fe available for a test-drive. Without driving a demo, how the hell can anyone cut a cheque for 30 lakhs?

[v&v]

Sad news indeed.

I own the 2nd generation AWD Manual (2011). Clocked 90k. Its such a fantastic machine to drive and maintenance cost is almost comparable to that of Creta. Service and spares are cheap compared to price point they sell at.

Even today the full service costs me under 10k.

It's a keeper. Let me see how long I can hold onto it!

[Durango Dude]

What killed the Santa Fe was the CBU/pricing! When the German's can come the CKD route why not Hyundai, Toyota and Honda!! A CBU from any Asian player is sure to fail in the Indian market! Why buy a Santa Fe when you can pick a German for the same price??

[ece2k2]

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

What killed the Santa Fe was the CBU/pricing! When the German's can come the CKD route why not Hyundai, Toyota and Honda!! A CBU from any Asian player is sure to fail in the Indian market! Why buy a Santa Fe when you can pick a German for the same price??

AFAIK, it was a CKD.

While Hyundai marketed it as a seven seater, it was just a comfortable 5 seater as its third row seating comfort was very poor IMHO. Since Tucson offers everything and more (except AWD) for a lesser price, Santa Fe became kind of redundant.

[gungax]

I am a very happy owner of the 2014 Santa Fe. Few observations specific to the car.

1. The Hyundai Badge – The badge ensures no one gives you a second glance. Here is a conversation I had with a relative.
Uncle: So, young man, I heard you spent a lot of money on a fancy new car. You should be saving your money for retirement.
Me: No uncle, I just bought a Hyundai.
Uncle: Oh Hyndaiaaaaa. Then its ok. Why are people complaining about your car?
2. On the high way the car is fast. Like really fast. Ask the Audi Q5 I just overtook.
3. Overtaking Fortuners and XUV500s is a risky affair. Many times they start racing and chasing trying to get ahead of the Santa Fe (usually at the next toll). I generally stop for a break when this happens. With these or any other agitated driver on the highway, I could be looking down the wrong end of a gun.
4. I have serviced my car in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Ooty, Gurugram and Pune. Even the worst service experience has been good. The others have always been excellent.

There is no denying it’s a great car. For anyone looking for a good car without a conspicuous badge. It’s a perfect fit.

I have spoken to Hyundai reps from China and Australia. With the Santa Fe, Hyundai preferred to make most of them in Korea itself. This has led to a shortage (read hard to get) in most countries in the Asia Pac region.

So it’s no surprise they just pulled the car off the Indian market instead of relaunching it with all the bells and whistles.