Hyundai Santro to make comeback later this month in India

South Korean auto major Hyundai Tuesday said it will bring back its once popular hatchback, Santro in an all new avatar in India later this month.

The company, which operates here in the country through wholly-owned subsidiary Hyundai Motor India (HMIL), had discontinued the previous Santro model from December 2014.

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 AH2 retains the values of the Santro in the form of a 'modern Tall Boy' car," he said here.

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.

"We will have the global premiere of the all-new Santro on October 23 in New Delhi," Koo said.

The Santro was first rolled out from the company's plant here in September 1998 and the brand was the mainstay of the company in the Indian car market.

"Since its first launch, Santro became a complete family car for millions of Indians... The all-new Santro will also debut advanced in-house smart auto AMT and other factory-fitted CNG options," he said.

Koo further said the all-new Santro would be manufactured in India for other global markets.

Earlier this year, Hyundai had said it planned to invest over USD 1 billion (around Rs 6,300 crore) in India in the next three years on new products, development of powertrain and setting up of a new office building.