Indian Autos blog

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 ]

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.

Premier, which launched the Compact Diesel SUV “RiO” last year in an unveiling at Mumbai and registered over 2,000 bookings, is busy taking the vehicle to different parts of India. Earlier this week, Premier launched the RiO in Bangalore. The Premier RiO is a sub-4 meter SUV, sourced from China and fitted with Peugeot’s diesel engine in Premier’s Pune plant. Its 1489cc turbo diesel engine delivers a maximum of 65 bhp.

Avniesh Goel, general manager, Marketing, Premier Limited -

We have re-entered the Indian market with India’s first ever Compact Diesel SUV. With the luxurious comfort in Rio along with its unbeatable pricing strategy, we are optimistic of redefining Indian customer’s perception about an SUV. The Company currently has 60 dealers, and will expand to 200 in the next 12 months. We will be offering a 3-year warranty for the RiO.

Priced at 5.6 lakh ex-showroom Bangalore, the RiO is available in 5 colors (red, white, silver, black and blue) and can be bought with or without air conditioning. The top-end model comes with mp3 player, power windows, ABS and alloy wheels.

Premier’s mini SUV Rio has garnered a good response from Indian buyers

Launched back in October last year, the Premier Rio’s desirable looks has worked as the company claims it has received 2,000 bookings from its 34 dealers.

Premier’s senior official -

We will begin the vehicle’s delivery shortly. We are starting dealers in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerela, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Goa in a month’s time. We are now also looking at cities in North India as we have been getting very positive response from them through this Auto expo, and Delhi would be the first city to get one.

The Premier Rio is a rebadged Daihatsu Terios from the 90′s and is manufactured by Zoyte in China. It is brought into India as CKD and at the Pune plant, Premier fits it with a diesel engine sourced from Peugeot.

The top-end Premier Rio comes with Airbags, ABS and alloy wheels. Premier offers a three year warranty on the Rio which comes in 5 colors.

On inspection during the launch last year, we found the interiors very boring. The legroom at the rear bench was not exceptional. The external appearance and the price tag makes up for the above shortfalls.

In the future, the Rio could come with the revolutionary Fiat Multi-jet engine which promises to sweeten the package.

Interior plastics are nothing to write home about; the top-end with alloys looks stylish

Here are some of the details discussed during the launch -

- Zotye began their operations in China in the year 2005

- Premier will bring more Zotye products in the future into India as CKDs

- The Rio is expected to return a fuel economy figure of 16-18kmpl

- 500 vehicles will be assembled in the company’s facility every month

- Premier is using a 1,500cc diesel engine, adopted from Peugeot, that delivers 65bhp.

- The company will sell the car in BS3 spec till the regulations come in next year, which is when it will upgrade satisfy demands.

Click through for Interior and Exterior Image slideshow

We’re delighted Premier is bringing in a product in yet another untapped segment

Oct 28 2009

Premier launches compact SUV in India

Premier (formerly known as Premier Automobiles) India’s pioneering car maker has re-entered the Indian passenger vehicle market with a compact SUV named RiO. The Premier RiO aims to cater to the segment between mid-size passenger cart and larger utility vehicles.

The RiO seats 5 people comfortably and is powered by Premiers 1489cc turbo diesel engine based on Peugeot technology delivering close to 65BHP and a fuel efficiency of about 16 kms per litre. The vehicle, based on a Dalhatsu model, will be sourced from China through a component supply agreement with Zotye Group, the Chinese manufacturer that sells close to 100,000 units per annum of this modal from its modern plant near Shanghai, China.

Premier win assemble the RIO at its Pune plant and sell it through its dealer network in a phased roll out starting with West and South India. The Company currently has 30 dealers that it is expanding to 100 in the next 8 months thereby creating an all India network. Premier is beefing up its sales and service support and will be offering a 3 year warranty for the RIO.

click through for more details and Image Slideshow

We’re back after attending not two, but three launches in Mumbai – Premier Rio, Honda Aviator 110 and the Mahindra Gio.

Rio-Gio — Some coincidence.

We’ll be updating the blog with all the images and information obtained from these launches. Apart from the press release, answers to questions we posed to the heads of the companies will also be sent through. Updating will begin shortly.