Soon after reports came in that Hyundai discontinued all of Santro’s petrol variants, the company has pulled the plug on its entry-level hatchback. With the end of production, the Santro will go off-shelf for the second time. The South Korean carmaker’s second Santro failed to repeat the success of the original Santro.
Hyundai reintroduced the Santro in India as a replacement for Eon in 2018. The starting price for the car was INR 3.9 lakh and went up to INR 5.5 lakh ex-showroom. The new Santro had fresh design elements and new features and was even available with a CNG option. However, the company positioned Santro in the higher budget segment. The Santro had features like a touchscreen infotainment display and rear AC vents. However, it lacked some basic features in all of the variants.
The asking price for the base variant of the Santro was high for what it offered. The base variant did not even come with factory-fitted air-conditioning. In addition to this, the higher variants of the Santro were more expensive than the base Grand i10 variants. The now-discontinued Grand i10 offered additional space and a more powerful engine. Hence, it was an obvious choice for many over the Santro.
The company also tried to reposition it to take on the lower entry-level hatchbacks. However, the introduction of BS6-emission norms meant an increase in input costs. Hence, the retail prices of the Santro also went up. The sales figures for the Santro were also abysmal. Combined with the fact that demand for SUVs was rising, the Santro had very few takers.
The recent government order for mandatory fitment of six airbags could have made it worse. Hyundai would have to re-engineer the car to meet this requirement. Additionally, the upcoming version of BS6 norms would have meant upgrading Santro’s 1.1-litre engine. Santro is also the sole model to use the 1.1-litre engine. Hence, combined with the safety and emission norms, it won’t be financially justifiable for Hyundai to continue selling the Santro.
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