Hyundai Motor India Ltd. (HMIL) has announced that it will launch its Santa Fe SUV in India in 2010. The vehicle will be fitted with a brand-new 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and would be positioned against the like of the Honda CR-V and Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara.

In a rather surprising move, the company has also announced it will phase out the Getz by 2011. Sales of that car have already been taking a serious beating and this announcement is likely to kill Getz sales completely. On its part, HMIL will choose to focus on the much more contemporary i20, of which it expects to sell 40,000 units this year.

On the small cars front, Hyundai will launch an updated version of the Santro next month. Also, the company plans to launch an all-new small car – perhaps one with an 800cc engine – in India by 2011.

Hyundai, which sold 2.45 lakh cars in India in 2008, is looking at sales of 2.8 lakh cars this year. The company is also looking at exporting around 2.7 lakh units from India this year, as compared to 2.45 lakh units which it exported last year.

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Surprised to hear that they wont be making the Getz any longer.