Mumbai Taxi Union adopts the Hyundai Santro

The Hyundai Santro will now be used as a taxi, in Mumbai. Hyundai Motor India Ltd. (HMIL) recently handed over the first batch of 30 Santro taxis to the Mumbai Taxi Union. By the end of this year, Hyundai aims to sell up to 1,250 Santro taxis, 500 units of which will be the airconditioned variant. The taxi-spec black-and-yellow Hyundai Santro (non-AC version) will be priced at Rs 2.42 lakh.

The Maharashtra State Government has decided to phase out taxis that are more than 25 years old, which means that a large percentage of Mumbai’s ancient, black-and-yellow Premier Padminis will soon be driving into the Sunset. Currently, more than 40,000 Premier Padmini taxis are estimated to be on Mumbai roads, and around 7,000 of these are due to be replaced with newer vehicles by the end of this year.

With an increasing number of consumers opting for newer Hyundai hatchbacks like the i10, Getz and i20, it looks like the decade-old Santro will now find a fresh lease of life as the Mumbai taxicab.