Do you know about a little known compact SUV called the Premier Rio? If you don’t, no need to worry as many people are yet to see a sRio on the road. Basically the Rio is a rebadged Zotye Nomad which is imported in form of CKD from China and sold in India as a Premier Rio. The idea of a compact SUV in under 5 lakhs was (and still is) a very interesting one, but Premier failed to capitalize on it and have only sold 2000 units so far.
With an outdated diesel engine, Premier chose not to enter the BS4 cities and played its game in smaller towns and cities. Premier Automobiles have rung their long lost partner Fiat to plonk the most popular diesel engine – Fiat Multijet in the Rio. This is the same engine that powers most diesel cars in India.
Maitreya Doshi, Chairman and Managing Director of Premier told EconomicTimes -
We have been in talks with Fiat for quite some time. There are a couple of vehicles in Italy right now which are being tested; once the technical integration is ready, we will enter into a component supply agreement with Fiat.
Of course, just an engine change will not work for the Rio and Premier knows it. So the company is also focusing on few improvements like better NVH and improved interiors. The company is gunning for a very conservative volume of 8,000 to 9,000 units in a year.
click through to read more
Back in late 2009, Premier launched its mini SUV Rio in India and with limited dealers, lack of a BS4 variant and brand visibility, its no surprise that Rio has not found too many homes. To pep things up, Premier is working on a facelifted edition of the Rio fitted with a Multi-jet diesel engine.
The petrol will be a 1.2 L engine producing 77PS and 104nm of torque while the existing diesel displacing 1.5 L engine producing 65PS and 152 Nm of torque is expected to carry on.
Note – Image used in the Zotye EV using the Rio as the donor model.
When we asked Premier about the Rio’s BS4 plan, this is what they had replied -
Mumbai-based Premier Automotive spokeswoman to Indian Autos Blog -
At this moment, we are in discussions with various engine manufacturers, including FIAT, for a Euro IV engine for the RiO. The outcome of these will be known shortly. Preliminary tests are currently being conducted to determine engine compatibility for the RiO. The current situation is that we are in a pre-production mode and a few vehicles have been seeded in the market to gauge initial market response. The feedback has been very positive, and based on this the product has now been fine tuned to meet customer expectations.
The Multi-jet Rio could give Premier access to crucial BS4 markets where a compact SUV concept is unheard of. If priced right, the Rio could experience a surge in sales. Premier has to work out a marketing campaign pulling into the frame factors like lack of parking space, high fuel cost, advantages of a high seating position, the Rio’s looks, features and the fuel efficiency of the award-winning Multi-jet diesel engine.
Goa On Wheels has carried photographs and details of the refreshed Premier Rio with beige interiors from a showroom. There’s no change to the mechanical setup, the 1.3-liter Multi-jet BS4 engine transplant has not yet taken place suggesting that a festive season or Auto Expo debut is likely.
Goa On Wheels states that the beige stimulates the interiors. The headliner is also bathed in beige giving the interiors an airy feel. Quality has been stepped up and the new gear knob looks snazzy. The interior quality is marginally better and the door panels are beige treated too.
Premier is working out plans for a new Rio. A cosmetically overhauled Rio is in the testing phase and the 1.3L Multi-jet motor will land up under its hood. This will make the Rio a silent, refined and more drivable vehicle. There are still no sports utility vehicles under 7 lakh rupees in India. The Rio continues to be this segment’s torchbearer.
click through to read more
IndianAutosBlog broke the story of Premier testing the Rio with a BS4-compliant Multi-jet engine yesterday and this afternoon we have more to add. Caught testing by our friends at OnCars.in, a cosmetically upgraded variant was doing rounds around Pune. If the badge is an indication to go by, the engine on test seems to be the same turbocharged 1.5-liter sourced from Peugeot.
The Zotye Nomad II as it is referred to in China, uses 1.3-, 1.5- and 1.6-liter Mitsubishi-sourced petrol engines. The upgraded vehicle is also offered with beige interiors. Petrol engines might not work out very well for our market, so Premier introduced it with only a diesel heart. Premier might offer the 1.3-liter Multi-jet engine to cities and the 1.5-liter engine might continue its duty in rural and semi-urban areas. A Diwali-time launch can be on the cards, but there’s no official word on it.
In a bid to appeal to a wider section of customers, Premier Automotive is working on a CRDI variant complying to BS4 emission norms for its Rio compact SUV. Launched back in late 2009, the Premier Rio wasn’t a runaway success for the company. Its slow start was blamed on the absence of a refined powertrain and limited visibility of the brand and product. Operating with dealers mainly in small [ Read More ]
At a recently held Auto-Parts show in Beijing, Zotye Motors showcased the ‘5008 EV’ presented in Police uniform. This car is essentially the Daihatsu Terios which is also sold as the Premier Rio here in India.
This little SUV is powered by batteries that have a range of 200 km & the car has a top speed of 100 kmph. Now this got us wondering. What if Premier decides to bring this into India?
Its high time that the Suzuki Gypsy & the Mahindra Jeep get a replacement. Sure the replacement should be something flashy and worth upgrading, and not just another old Gypsy (read ‘olden goldie’).
But if you come to think of it, the Rio is not a bad looking car, has the perfect size for our congested cities and the electric motor could power an experimental fleet to see its performance and user-friendliness.
Since there is no viable option currently out there for our Police (the Boleros, Innovas and Sumos are a little too big and bulky), the Rio should work out just fine. But knowing the fact that bringing this car would require huge investments and seeing the lackluster approach by Premier for the Rio which is yet to receive a CRDI engine, we honestly do not expect this to come to India.
Premier’s mini SUV Rio is now available in Goa. Instead of conducting a national launch, Premier planned to introduce its vehicle city by city after collecting and incorporating feedback from each market.
Premier sources the Rio from Chinese company Zoyte which has recently introduced an electric version of the vehicle. The Rio is a rebadged older generation Daihatsu Terios.
The Premier Rio makes use of a turbocharged 1.5-liter diesel engine which originally appeared on the Peugeot 309. The Maruti Esteem and Zen were the others to receive it in India.
The enticing Rio has features like Air conditioning, power steering, power windows, split foldable rear seats, Alloy wheels, Anti lock braking system (ABS) make it an attractive buy for the urban commuter needing fuel efficiency, style and practicality.
Chinese manufacturer Zotye Auto, which had tied up with Premier India to launch the Premier Rio in India, has acquired rights for Fiat cars in China and they have started producing remodeled Fiat Palios and Sienas with ‘Zotye’ badging.
These car gets a thoroughly revised styling and don’t look similar to the Fiat Palio and Siena at all. The cars features two petrol engines, a 1.3 liter producing 99 hp and 126 Nm of torque and a 1.5 liter producing 119 hp and 147 Nm of torque. The cars come with three transmission options, a 5-speed manual, 5-speed automatic and 4-speed sequential shift tranny.
Zotye Palio’s exterior looks refreshing. The cars interiors get a huge makeover and draw inspiration from the European Ford Fiesta. The Chinese Palio is loaded with safety features like Dual-airbags, ABS with EBD.
The Zotye Siena’s exterior is a ‘sad’ interpretation of the Volkswagen Polo at the front and an Audi at the back. The side profile looks like a disfigured form of a Ford Crown Victoria (the cop cars that we see in Hollywood).
The Premier Rio mini-SUV is nothing but a rebadged Zotye 2008 which again is nothing but a rebadged Daihatsu Terios. Then would these Zotye Fiat cars come to India as a Premier then? Chance-less! Zotye is licensed only to sell these modified Fiats in the Chinese market. That comes a huge sigh of relief for us. 
click through to view the image gallery
Do you know about a little known compact SUV called the Premier Rio? If you don’t, no need to worry as many people are yet to see a sRio on the road. Basically the Rio is a rebadged Zotye Nomad which is imported in form of CKD from China and sold in India as a Premier Rio. The idea of a compact SUV in under 5 lakhs was (and still is) a very interesting one, but Premier failed to capitalize on it and have only sold 2000 units so far.
