Fiat Premier Padmini is unforgettable! One of India’s oldest car companies, Premier Auto, owned by the Doshi family, is ready to re-enter the Indian market with its compact SUV Rio. This time Premier Auto has partnered with a Chinese Auto firm, Zotye Auto that will supply vehicle kits to Premier that will be assembled in India.
Premier has its manufacturing plant at Chinchwad near Pune which has installed capacity of 20,000 units annually. Zotye will export completely knocked down units to India and Premier will supply diesel engine along with its assembly line power to manufacture the new SUV Rio.
Both the companies intend to bring the cheapest SUV in India priced at around Rs. 5 lakh. This means new SUV Rio will be at least 30 percent cheaper than Mahindra Scoprio. The top end model of Rio is expected to be priced at Rs. 7 lakh which will be completely loaded with airbags and anti-braking system.
Rio is the first generation model of Daihatsu Terios that was manufactured by Japanese car maker Toyota. The car was sold in various overseas markets from 1995 to 2005. The second generation model is still sold with Toyota badge and Daihatsu badge in some international markets. Zotyo has now bought tools and parts of Terios from Toyota in similar fashion like Tata has bought tools and dies of Renault’s utility van Traffic. Tata sells Traffic in India as Tata Winger. Now Toyota owned Daihatsu Terios will be sold as Premier Rio in India.
