2018 Hyundai Santro off to an impressive start; hatchback racks up nearly 30,000 bookings

Hyundai Motors India Limited (HMIL) brought back the iconic Santro nameplate for its new small car in India last month. The 2018 Santro garnered a lot of attention for the name alone before the launch while competitive pricing seems to have further attracted buyers to Hyundai dealerships.

Hyundai started accepting bookings for the 2018 Santro on October 10 and it found over 23,000 takers by the time of launch on October 23. Emerging reports indicate the booking number is now nearing to 30,000 units.

A report in Autocar India claims the new Santro has received 1,29,500 inquiries and clocked wholesale numbers of over 8,500 units so far. As the company produces only 10,000 Santro units a month, buyers may have to wait up to two months to get their car, the report adds.

Priced from Rs 3.40 lakh to Rs 5.65 lakh (ex-showroom), 2018 Santro draws power from 1.1-litre in-line four-cylinder petrol engine that develops 69bhp of power and 99Nm of torque. The mill comes mated to two transmission option- 5-speed manual and 5-speed Smart Auto AMT (first time in a Hyundai car).

In addition, Hyundai offers CNG-powered Magna and Sportz variants with a lower output of 58hp. Hyundai claims a fuel efficiency of 20.3kmpl for the petrol variants of the 2018 Santro and 30.5km/kg for CNG variants.

In terms of design, the new Santro features a tall boy design in line with the original model launched in 1998 and discontinued in 2014. The new car gets Hyundai's signature cascading grille with a chrome outline.

The grille section gets black internals and also extends to the fog lamp enclosures. The peeled back styled headlamps look large and it connects the bonnet and front fender in the top section.

The side of the car has a striking resemblance of the previous generation i10 hatchback. Meanwhile, creases at both front and rear wheels and a kink in the window line add a modern touch. The rear gets a set of wraparound taillights, wide windscreen and the number plate that is housed on the rear bumper.

The cabin gets premium two-tone interior (beige and black). The top variants of the Santro boast of the 7.0-inch touchscreen with Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, voice recognition and mirror link feature. It also gets a reverse camera, rear wash, wipe and defogger, electric mirrors and windows, ORVM mounted blinkers and front fog lamps.