Hyundai Getz to Bid Us Farewell

It's time now to say good bye to the old pal Hyundai Getz. The stylish hatchback from Hyundai Motors that once rocked the Indian car market with highest sales record in 2004, with more than 3000 cars being sold in one month, is now going to take a backseat. India's second largest car maker has decided to phase out this car model, as it is losing it to the company's other hit brands Hyundai i10 and Hyundai i20.

Getz - going...

Hyundai Getz, launched in 2004, was targeted to lure those who wanted to upgrade their small cars Maruti Alto, Santro, Wagon R to a more powerful hatch; and Getz was the best option at that point of time. But then with the launch and powerful brand promotioning of its siblings i10 and i20, the focus started getting shifted. Potential buyers started finding in i10 and i20 more premium hatchback qualities than those they found earlier in Getz. This eventually got reflected in the sales figure, which thereby led the car manufacturer to take the ultimate decision.

i20 - having a gala time!

Now, Hyundai will utilize the spare production capacity to produce more i20s and i10s that would help in reducing the irksome waiting period of two moths for their buyers. Isn't that great! And yes, the Korean car maker is also planning to pitch new variants of Hyundai i20, its premium hatchback – soon. So, rejoice!

Hyundai on The Move!

Hyundai Motors is in no mood to slowdown as of now. First it launched the new Verna Transform with a bang, and now, it is back in the news with the twin announcements of the Santa Fe launch and the 800cc mini car launch in 2010 end and 2011 consecutively.

The automaker announced that though it operates only two manufacturing plants in India with a total production of 600.000 vehicles per year, it will import all Santa Fe SUVs from South Korea to make them available for Indian customers. Commenting on the new SUV, a top Hyundai official said that the new Santa Fe SUV will be a completely built unit, and after two-three years it will be manufactured completely as a knocked down unit.

Till date all the SUVs made by Tata Motors have been immensely popular in Indian market, so have been the sporty Mahindra cars, but when Hyundai tried to surprise Indian mass with its Tucson SUV, it received a lukewarm response. Now, the carmaker hopes to do a better job with the new Santa Fe SUV, and has accordingly adorned it with a plethora of styling tweaks and powertrain updates, including new front fascia, front and rear bumpers and slightly updated tail-lights.

Coming to the all new mini-car, Hyundai Motors India limited has scheduled its launch in the first half of the next year. The 800 ccm or 0.8L Hyundai car will be slotted below Hyundai Santro, the predecessor of popular Hyundai i10, and is now in the final phase of development.