[ajay387]

By the looks (SUV) and the boot space, it could the best replacement of our Premier Padmini TAXI in mumbai. The boot space could take the CNG tank plus a few suitcase's and the high ground clearance could be a boon for the flooded roads and potholes. It looks like a dream car replacement.
Premier Padmini to Premier RiO.

[CARDEEP]

The engine reminds me of the Renault sourced engine that also does duty in San Storm, if I am not wrong. But, a petrol SUV (is it 4x4?!) in these days, especially one to compete against Gypsy... not my cup of tea.

[JagMan]

The San Storm engine is a 62 bhp unit. this is listed as a 77 bhp. could it be that this was a bid to increase power. the diesel review post posted linked to above says the diesel is a 65 bhp unit. if i remember right the TUD5 was actually only a 54 bhp unit and the one in the RIO was downsized to fit the bill for the small car rule for excise cut. Difficult to see PAL squeezing out 65 bhp from that mill. Havent seen one thing anywhere about R&D at pal...

EDIT1. Went back to check. GTO's post says 77 bhp but the image says 76.6 PS... BHP figure should be lower or higher? lower

Edit2. the TUD derived diesel is 65 PS... and i hadnt seen the news about the CRDi powerplant either. this is then an attempt at offering a wider choice alongside the crdi...

[MAS]

I have seen the Rio in Tier II cities. I saw one of them in Trichy and one more in Chengelpatu. I am sure the car is selling because of the diesel and the high GC. Now, Premier comes up with a strange strategy of introducing a Petrol heart. When all manufacturers including the Toyota are eyeing their sales to come from Diesel and the past two months have seen a sea change in Petroliesel cars sold in India, i am amazed at their strategy.

Looks this was a strategy made long time back when the Petrol prices were around Rs. 50 a litre and Premier took its own sweet time to launch it.

They seems to forgot that things have moved further and even a Jazz & City with high tech engine + high mileage are struggling to sell volumes.

[Enigmatic]

Just one question to premier WHY??
Cant the understand from the market response of their diesel RIO that it is simply not selling and if they want some descent market share in this country then they will have to come out with a much superior car .
A diesel powered Chinese look alike ironically called SUV with interiors from the time of Premier Padmani will not cut the cake!!

[ilangop]

Originally Posted by Skyline GT-R

Is it the reloaded 118NE Petrol engine?

Even I have the same doubt as the engine CC matches with that of the Nissan A 12 Engine in the 118 NE. Thinking of dropping into any of the Premier Showrooms and look underhood.

[himavanth_m]

Premier as a company is doing very good. Premier Rio is not their only offering. They manufacture CNCs and Automotive spare parts, Wind Mill spare parts and other castings for other companies

But why are they launching this? I have no idea and if I have to guess, I think the company's sole purpose was to make loss through Rio to save taxes.

Originally Posted by Vishal.R

2.) Handling (In Dippy’s words from above thread after quick test drive “I would not rule out toppling at high speeds” )

Firstly I dont think this vehicle will touch 'high speeds'. And secondly, in case it touches 'high speeds', I would not rule out toppling at high speeds in a straight line for this vehicle.

I have also read from reports that space is at a premium in a Rio. The space in it is much smaller than a M800.
I have not seen a single Rio since its launch anywhere.

[mayankk]

they know something about the economic climate that we dont, perhaps?


The zoyte nomads are carrying mitsubishi mills, but they start at 1.3L.
could it be?

[Cooltronics]

I have always failed to understand Premier's market strategy when it comes to competition and new products.
Premier Padmini happened to be a fantastic drive but their arrogant behavior, poor quality cars and complacence attitude routed them out of the market post M800. A clear case of how to loose a well dominated market in matter of few years.
Now with Rio, again I fail to understand their affinity to Petrol engine. Premier needs to rebuild the lost image by providing some value for money offerings, better *** and good dealer networks. Seemingly its difficult as the saying goes "Once bitten twice shy", would take a humongous effort to revive the sales

[theMAG]

Case of a company continuing to be badly conceptualized throughout its existence.

[radek]

Originally Posted by Nilesh5417

How is it doing in terms of sales? Honestly, I'm yet to see a single one here in Pune on road!

Hurray!!! Finally I saw a Rio on highway near Wakad, Pune. I spotted a strange vehicle while driving to work. It was few vehicles ahead of me. First I thought this SUVish vehicle will be too fast to reach in my Spark. But it was bit slow and then I found out, this was the moment I was waiting for so long (!). I finally had my first sighting of The Premier Rio.

It was brand new, bright red coloured Rio with TC number plate and garlands. It looked like some nearby villager was going back to his village after purchasing the vehicle from Pune.

[devarshi84]

Pricing is affected a lot by the economies of scale. Premier is a small company with only a handful cars sold in some months. With the basic car being imported, there is not much room for a healthy margin.

Just my assumption.

[Skyline GT-R]

I have been seeing a red colour RiO for past 2 years at a famous auto-accessory store in Pattom, Trivandrum, Kerala.

Vaguely remember seeing another green coloured 1 somewhere else. And once in a regional TV channel program called " Fastrack".

[honeybee]

Is Premier serious about selling the car?
If yes, why aren't they marketing it aggressively and why aren't there many RiOs on the roads?
If no, why are they launching a petrol variant?

Is Premier making any money on each sale? If every vehicle ordered by a customer is imported against the order and then delivered, all Premier has to incur is the warranty maintenance. So it could be making a profit on each single car it sells here. Not a bad strategy to keep the money trickling in.

[aaren]

The Zigwheels / Times of India of October 19th had this to say:

Premier launches petrol version of famous Rio

Well, well, I did not know that Rio was famous