The
company will open online pre-bookings for the all-new Santro from
October 10-22 with Rs 11,100 as booking amount for the first 50,000
customers.
Korean
auto major Hyundai
on Tuesday showcased a next-gen Santro, which was the company's first
product in India way back in 1998. The 'tall boy' was Hyundai's most
popular product name in India.( Business
Standard )
Here
are the key takeaways:
-
The all-new Santro, which was developed under the code name AH2, will
be powered by a 4-cylinder 1.1 litre petrol engine
-
It will also be available with automated manual transmission (AMT)
and factory-fitted CNG fuel options
-
HMIL Managing Director and CEO Y K Koo said the company decided to
name the "new family car" as Santro following an
overwhelming response from customers in an online poll.
-
The company will open online pre-bookings for the all-new Santro from
October 10-22 with Rs 11,100 as booking amount for the first 50,000
customers
-
66.6 per cent of five million voted for the name
-
Six key pillars for New Santro include style, tall boy design,
comfortable and premium cabin, new age technology, customer-centric
safety
-
Company claims mileage of 20.3 kmpl (MT/AMT)
The
original Hyundai Santro was launched on September 23, 1998. Two years
later, Hyundai set up its base in India with an investment of $614
million, which was the biggest investment to have been made by any
Multinational company in the Indian automotive sector till then.
The
company had invested in Sriperumbudur near Chennai, Hyundai's largest
plant outside of Korea then.
Santro,
being Hyundai's first product in India, was important for the
automaker as its future in the country depended on it. Hyundai is now
the second largest carmaker in India in the passenger car segment and
is one of the leading exporters of cars from India.
The
company roped in Shah Rukh Khan, who had just started on his journey
to stardom with films like Dilwale Dulhaniya and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
as brand ambassador for the car, which was nicknamed 'tall boy' then.
Meanwhile,
though the Santro faced stiff competition in the marketplace from the
likes of the Maruti Zen and Tata Indica, its refinement, peppy
engine, unusual tall boy design, well-finished and put together
interiors and the friendly and helpful sales and service staff,
helped the Hyundai Santro script its success story. Significantly,
Hyundai Santro was almost simultaneously launched worldwide and
Indian customers got the same product as the rest of the world. The
then management said it showed that Hyundai cared for Indian
consumers and treated them on par with the world and the car went on
to become one of India's most successful hatchbacks. The car was
discontinued in December 2014... Read
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