In the hatchback space, two very popular cars are about to make a splash at the upcoming 2018 Auto Expo. One of them is the third-gen Maruti Swift, which most of us already know a lot of details about. However, the original tall boy, the Hyundai Santro is all set to make waves in urban spaces again and the Korean carmaker has been testing the little hatch pretty rigorously before its official unveiling.
Spotted yet again, by the looks of it, the new Santro’s glass area does resemble the i10 quite a lot. The tailgate drops nearly vertically into an almost non-existent rear overhang. The tail-light appears to be lit by a conventional bulb and there’s a high mounted stop lamp too. However, Hyundai might just surprise by offering LED units on high-spec variants. This particular test mule appears to be riding on 14″ steel wheels but alloys could be offered as an option.
If you look closely through the glass area, it does appear that this new hatchback might feature a floating infotainment display. However, concentrate a little more and you’d notice that the screen is held by a suction cup attached to the windscreen. Known to offer first-in-segment features, we wouldn’t be surprised if Hyundai offers something like that on a car of this segment. The front seat headrests appear to be the integrated type, which is how things are in cars of this class. Based on a new ‘Hyundai family design concept’, expect this new hatch to go head-on against products like the Tata Tiago and the Maruti Celerio. It will score high on practicality, cabin space and like all modern Hyundais will feature class-leading equipment and quality. The hatchback is likely to use the 1.0-litre Kappa petrol engine from the Eon. There are also rumours that entry-level variants will be powered by an 800cc petrol engine can’t be ruled out either.
Images: team-bhp