The gracious people over at Hyundai India and Lamxi Intercontinental Pvt. Ltd gave us the opportunity to witness the event and Autolife Nepal is here, live in Delhi and we are more than happy and honored to accept this invitation. Being the generous people that they are, we were accommodated at the Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Delhi, Saket and the launch event took place at the Hotel Taj Palace in New Delhi. The grand event was nothing less than breath taking, as they were on the process of unveiling the successor to the very famous and loved car, the Hyundai Santro! The Santro was one of the First vehicles to change the Hatchback market back in the days and was well accepted by all. Now, with the new Santro, Hyundai has tried to recreate the same image that was portrayed by its predecessor. After the welcoming speech and a briefing on Hyundai’s history by the M.D. and CEO at Hyundai Motor India Limited, Mr. Y K Koo, the all new Santro was unveiled. The design introduction was conducted by Sangyup Lee, Head of Hyundai Styling, while the introduction of the Santro was done by Amit Dhaundiyal GM- Product Planning, Hyundai Motor India Limited.

It’s interesting to know that the Santro is the first car to be exported by Hyundai motors India to Nepal in 1998 and is the first Hyundai vehicle of India. And after 2 decades of winning the hearts of the public, the new Santro upped its game and gets a better design and looks very smart. The signature cascading grille makes its way into the Santro as well with the fog lamps placed high along the front grille. The headlights and the grille together look like a smiling face. It is powered by a 1.1 liter petrol engine producing 68 bhp @ 5500 RPM and 99 Nm of torque @ 4500 RPM. The mileage is claimed to be 20.3 kmpl according to ARAI testing. It also gets a unique and practically designed air vent which provides superior cooling and that obviously translates to better performance. With that being said, there are 7 colors available for the new Santro.

On the interior side of things, the new Santro comes with two tone beige and black finish with the use of elegant champagne gold. There are also neat features such as a 7-inch infotainment system which supports Apple car play and Android Auto, which is a segment first. Another first in the segment feature is that it houses a voice recognition system and it comes along with the Hyundai iblue smart app. Other than that, the Santro also gets Rear AC vents, which adds to the comfort of the rear seat passengers. The space has been increased from before to provide more leg room and headroom for the occupants. Being placed between the Eon and Grand I10 means it will take on vehicles such as the Renault Kwid 1.0, Suzuki Celerio, Tata Tiago, etc. The Santro looks to bring a tough fight to its competitors.

Nevertheless, we would also like to thank Laxmi Intercontinental Pvt. Ltd., sole authorized dealer of Hyundai motors in Nepal and Hyundai India for giving us the opportunity to attend and witness the launching of the marvellous and new Hyundai Santro.