The Hyundai Santro is a city car produced by the South Korean manufacturer Hyundai between 1998 and 2014, and again, exclusively in India, since 2018. The "Santro" nameplate was applied during its first and second generation to the Atos Prime model, while the third generation is a standalone model.
The first generation Santro was introduced in 1998 and went on sale in early 1999. It was also sold in Europe as the Atos Prime and in South Korea and Indonesia as the Kia Visto. It was known as the Santro Zip in India from 1998 to 2006.
After the Kia Visto was replaced by the Kia Picanto in 2004, the Santro was launched in its second generation avatar in 2003. While the 2003 facelift was marketed as part of the first generation, Hyundai India has produced the 2003 Santro as a second generation model with tweaks to the car platform, and new features. It was known as the Santro Xing in India from 2003 to 2014.
The third generation Santro was launched on 23 October2018 in India. This marks the return of the Santro nameplate in India after four years since the last generation was discontinued and nearly twenty-five years since the start of production. It is positioned below the Hyundai i10. The model is powered by a 1.1-litre Epsilon G4HG petrol which produces at 5,500 rpm and torque at 4,500 rpm. A bi-fuel version of the engine that uses both petrol and CNG is also available. Transmission options consist of a 5-speed manual and a 5-speed automated manual. Less than a month after its release, the Santro sold 8,535 units, outselling the Tata Tiago's 7,549 units.
It is one of the Top 3 Urban World Cars of 2019. It is also rumoured to arrive to the Mexican market sometime in which it will be known as the Atos and making a return to said market to position between the Grand i10 after a lengthy hiatus. The 2019-tested Indian-made Santro scored a mere 2 stars in the Global NCAP's frontal offset crash tests under its Safer Cars for India Programme and was shown to have an unstable bodyshell. Brunei models as the Atos goes on sale in May 2020 with offered in two variants: Pure Base and Standard. Only the two models were equipped with 1.1L Epsilon petrol engine with 5-speed automated manual or 5-speed manual transmission.
