Premier Automobiles Limited established its roots in India during 1941 after negotiating a deal with Chrysler Corporation. Under this agreement, the latter gave the permission to Premier for building Plymouth car and Dodge truck. After that the Government of India imposed steep duty on importing the parts to the country in order to safeguard the interest of local companies. Owing to this, Premier brought up its first vehicle in India by 1964 under the name of Padmini and after that, the company produced one of the most iconic car to feature in the Indian car market. The car was named as 118NE and was introduced during the year 1985.
In looks, the 118NE was largely based on the Fiat 124 as both had similar characteristics, except few changes made to its front and rear portion. However, Premier Automobiles did not incorporate the engine of Fiat in 118NE as it used the A12 unit of Nissan that had a displacement of 1171 cc. It had the ability to churn out a maximum power of 52 bhp alongside the 79 Nm of peak torque. The car was equipped with a manual gearbox that was also provided by Nissan in its Cherry model. During the year 1996, 118NE was offered in a 1.38D variant in which a powerful diesel engine was given, which was licensed from Fratelli Negri Machine Sud, Italy. The sedan had a kerb weight of 900 kg and could easily seat four people. It was capable of reaching a top speed of 135 kmph from its straight four-cylinder engine.
The car of Premier Automobiles was manufactured at the Kalyan facility of the company, which has been closed as of now. Back in the 1990s, the 118NE model was considered as one of the luxurious car to feature in India; however the influx of new models during the latter part of decade eroded the consumer interest. Since the sales of 118NE came down significantly, owing to the entrance of new players, the iconic model of Premier Automobiles was discontinued in 2001. After the closure of production, a new improved model named as Viceroy was introduced in the Indian car market by Premier under its alliance with Peugeot.
Meanwhile, the craze of Premier 118NE still lies very much in the hearts of Indian car enthusiasts as they can be seen restoring its erstwhile generation models. The old horse of Premier is one of the discontinued cars that still possess the affection of vintage and classic car lovers.
