On April 06, 2012, the Indian arm of Italian automotive major Fiat stated that it is hosting meetings regarding a deal to provide Premier Ltd. with diesel engines for its RiO Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV). Rajeev Kapoor, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Fiat India Automobiles commented, "We are currently in talks with Premier to supply diesel engines. It will be the 1.3 litre multijet, 75 bhp engine which we are also supplying to Maruti Suzuki."
Speaking at the Hero Mindmine Summit, he said that the company is still in talks with the Pune-based Indian auto manufacturer. Kapoor commented, "We are going to announce within a month about the number of engines and the duration of contract. This engine will be fitted in their compact SUV RiO."
Best known for the Premier Padmini vehicles that were popular till the 1980s, Premier Ltd. had worked in collaboration with French company Peugeot as well as Fiat itself, before parting ways with them in the 1990s. After it started operating as a single entity in 2004, the company came out with the compact SUV RiO in the year 2009. Though the model is priced lower than competing cars, such as Mahindra Scorpio, it has not been able to enjoy success in the market and has remained a small player in the growing SUV segment of the domestic market. The manufacturer came out with the new latest edition of RiO at the 2012 New Delhi Auto Expo.
Fiat India has been supplying diesel engines to Maruti Suzuki, the biggest car manufacturer of India, since January 2012. Regarding this, Kapoor said, "The contract with Maruti is for three years under which we will supply one lakh units every year." The engines sold to Premier and Maruti by the Italian company will be produced at its Ranjangaon, Maharashtra production unit.
The company also aims to bolster its exclusive dealerships in the country in a bid to improve sales volumes. Regarding this, Kapoor commented that it plans to raise the number of exclusive dealerships showrooms from 2 to 25 spread across 25 sites in 2012 itself. He continued that these exclusive showrooms will only be operated by dealers who already have joint outlets with Tata Motors.
Kapoor continued, "We will announce a detailed network and product strategy by the end of this month. After this year we will ramp the number of exclusive showrooms." He also added that it would still retain the joint showrooms with Tata Motors since these remain feasible options for sales in smaller towns. The company sells Grande Punto premium hatchback and Linea mid-sized hatchback in India.
