Hyundai appears to have discontinued several variants of its entry-level vehicle lineup, including the Santro, Grand i10, Nios, and Aura. Often, carmakers rejig their existing product portfolios to add a fresh feel to them. They would ditch unpopular variants and bring in more attractive trims with added features.
In some cases, they would target selling a particular variant by discontinuing the rather VFM one. The semiconductor issues have really impacted car manufacturers in this regard, mainly for the premium models that are retailed with high-end tech and advanced features. Back to the latest move from Hyundai, the Grand i10 Nios’ diesel variants have been shelved.
In the domestic market, the compact hatchback primarily rivalling Maruti Suzuki Swift is sold in a total of five grades namely Era, Magna, Sportz, Turbo and Asta. Since the gasoline motor has departed, presumably due to the low demand, the Sportz and Sportz AMT diesel variants are discontinued. The Aura compact sedan competes against Maruti Suzuki Dzire and Honda Amaze in India.
The sub-four-metre sedan is available in E, S, SX, SX(+) and SX (O) trims and the exclusion of the diesel engine in the S and SX+ AMT meant the diesel engine is no longer available in the volume-focussed model as well. Hyundai looks to have discontinued all the petrol versions of the Santro and it was presented in Era, Executive, Magna, Sportz, Sportz AMT, Sportz CNG, Sportz Executive CNG and Asta trims.
The South Korean auto major might only sell the CNG version of the entry-level hatchback. The Santro nameplate was revived back in late 2018 but it could not emulate the success of its predecessor which really set the tone for the company locally.
It is expected that the second-largest carmaker in India will launch the facelifted Venue, facelifted Creta, new-gen Tucson, and the next-gen Verna in the near future, while the Ioniq 5 will be introduced later this year.