Evolution of Hyundai Santro in India: What led to Discontinuation and Relaunch in 2018?

The Hyundai Santro, launched in 1998, was the Korean company’s first car in India. Considered revolutionary at launch for its tallboy styling and technology on offer, it remained on sale through multiple facelifts till 2014. The Santro brand was relaunched in 2018 but low demand led to the new Santro being discontinued in 2022. 

If you’re in the market to buy a used car, you may want to consider a used Hyundai Santro for its cheerful styling, excellent quality and smooth 4-cylinder engine among other plus points. Here’s the evolution of the Hyundai Santro in India, from its first generation to the second generation and why it was discontinued. 

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Launch of First Generation Hyundai Santro in 1998

The Korean automaker, Hyundai Motor Company set up manufacturing in India in 1996. Two years later, the Hyundai Santro was unveiled at the 1998 Auto Expo, though some of its thunder was stolen by the debut of the Tata Indica. Launch advertising featured India’s sweetheart, Shah Rukh Khan, turning from a naysayer of the brand to a fan of ‘the sunshine car’, a foretelling of the Indian public’s reaction to the Santro. 

Derived from the quirky-looking Hyundai Atos sold internationally since 1996, the front and rear end styling were softened to appeal to Indian tastes. The name itself was derived from the French coastal town, Saint Tropez and was meant to evoke a Euro chic style. The Santro debuted the high roofline tallboy styling and packed a surprising amount of legroom for a car that measured in under 3.5 metres long. 

The Santro was powered by a 999cc, 4-cylinder petrol engine with 55 hp mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. It packed many firsts too: first small car with power steering (first petrol hatchback to offer it), MPFI and multi-valve head engine, power windows, central locking, rear defogger/wiper and all four adjustable head rests. 

The first-gen Santro was priced from ₹2.99 lakh, ex-showroom. What Hyundai got right was the combination of space, features and price making the Santro a value proposition like no other. Though the Santro was considered far from a classically good-looking car with its ‘bug eyes’, it managed to rack up around 60,000 units sold in the first two years of production. This took Hyundai to the spot of second largest automobile manufacturer in India, a spot it enjoyed till very recently. 

Generations of Hyundai Santro: Key Changes Over Time

Source: TeamBHP

These are the major changes made to the Hyundai Santro since its launch in 1998, spanning the first gen and second gen models. 

1998 - Launch, 999cc, 4-cylinder, 55 hp petrol engine 

2002 - Santro Zip, 1.1-litre Epsilon 4-cylinder petrol with 63 hp, 4-speed AT

2003 - Facelifted Santro Xing launched 

2014 - First-gen Santro discontinued 

2018 - Second-gen Santro launched at ₹3.89 lakh, ex-showroom, 1.1-litre, 4-cylinder, 69 hp petrol engine, AMT gearbox

2022 - Second-gen Santro discontinued

First-gen Hyundai Santro (1998-2014)

The Hyundai Santro was launched to a small car market largely dominated by the carbureted, 3-cylinder Maruti-Suzuki 800 and Zen, with the 4-cylinder Zen representing a step up from the 800. The Santro, with its four-cylinder, fuel-injected engine brought new technology to the small car segment, paying off in peppy performance and reliability. As for other competition, the Daewoo Matiz was launched at the same time as the Santro but a poor pricing strategy didn’t do it any favours. The Tata Indica, on the other hand, had a poor reputation for quality in the initial days. 

In 2002, the Santro Zip was launched with an updated 1,086cc Epsilon engine with 63 hp, as well as a 4-speed torque converter automatic gearbox option. The car also came with a new horizontal grille and a rear spoiler to signify the change.

In 2003, the mid-cycle facelift called the Santro Xing was launched. The larger, more square headlights fixed the bug-eye look of the Santro that many buyers weren’t a fan of. The Santro Xing helped grow Hyundai’s sales quite substantially in the period after its launch. By 2010, nearly seven years after its launch even with the fresher Hyundai i10 as its stablemate, the Santro Xing was still the second-best-selling car in India. Instead of further updating the car and driving up prices, Hyundai let the Santro soldier on till 2014. 

Second-gen Hyundai Santro (2018-2022)

The Hyundai Eon took the place of the departed Santro as the smallest in the lineup in 2011, before the Santro was discontinued. In 2018, Hyundai was ready to launch its replacement, codenamed AH2. Courtesy of a naming campaign, the Santro badge was chosen for the new small car 20 years after the original was launched. Taller and wider than the Hyundai i10 and the Maruti Suzuki WagonR (though it wasn’t as apparently ‘tallboy’), the new Santro was also the shortest in length. 

Based on the i10 platform, the new-age Santro brought spacious interiors, a cheerful design and an AMT to the Hyundai lineup. It was the first in the segment to offer rear AC vents. The new Santro was also offered with a factory-fitted CNG kit in the two mid variants. Variants included the D-Lite, Era, Magna, Sportz and Asta. Top-spec variants offered a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment, rear parking sensors and reversing camera, power adjustable wing mirrors and more. 

In 2022, citing rising input costs, customer preference shift to compact SUVs and low demand, Hyundai pulled the plug on the Santro nameplate once again. A used Hyundai Santro remains a great buy for someone on a budget, as prices have dropped since it was discontinued. Given the parts sharing across Hyundai models, spare parts availability shouldn’t be an issue either, though certain cosmetic items may be available on order. 

Comparing Old vs. New Hyundai Santro

Considering the 20 years that separate the first generation Hyundai Santro from the second generation, both cars are very different even though they share a similar heart. These are the major differences between generations: 

Conclusion

The Santro nameplate is only second in legacy to the Maruti-Suzuki 800. With King Khan’s endorsement at an early stage and genuinely good packaging and features, the Santro was an immediate hit and catapulted a then-new Hyundai into the limelight. While the Santro doesn’t exist in Hyundai’s portfolio any longer, it’s the very foundation the company owes its success to.