[vikrantj]

Fiat, Padmini close to signing pact to source 1.3 litre multijet diesel engine for Rio

MUMBAI: Fifteen years after they parted ways, Premier Ltd, run by Walchand Hirachand Group, and its erstwhile partner Fiat, may soon kiss and make up.

Premier, the maker of the iconic car Padmini which ruled Indian roads for three long decades - between 1955 and 1985 - has turned to Fiat to make a mark in the ferociously competitive Indian passenger vehicle market. It is very close to signing a commercial agreement with its former partner for the 1.3 litre multijet diesel engine - the one that drives Maruti's Swift and Tata Motors' Vista - for its compact sports utility vehicle (SUV) Rio.

Source & Link to Full Economic Times Article

[Vik0728]

Woah, with scores of car buyers lining up for Diesel mills everyday, this should be interesting.
As GTO has confirmed that Rio can be termed as "Juggard", hopefully this 1.3 Multijet should add some value to this machine along with the vital interior makeover.

[Enigmatic]

Dont know what good would a multijet engine do to the rio !
A car dosent sell only because of a diesel power plant ! Looks , comfort , reliability , A.s.s., safety etc play an equally vital part !
Instead of givig the rio a new heart i think premier should plan out some new stratergy for selling its vehicles in the indian market .
Premier has to realise that the indian market has matured a lot from the time of the padmanis and the likes !

[Fusion2006]

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[vikrantj]

If you read the article carefully it says that "Premier is using this opportunity to change its interiors and fit and finish" . Not that I am too optimistic on this but a better interiors with a 1.3L MJD and some presence in Tier 2 cities can lift up RIO's sale. And if I take my optimism furthur this can be a good competitor to the likes of Bolero etc.

[revintup]

Just the presence of the MJD is not going to do wonders for the Rio.

First of all it is burdened by the chineese==cheap mentality.

Then there is the lack of dealerships and service centres.

And to top it, there is a plain lack of appeal in the vehicle. Dont know why the chineese are not copying the gypsy. As it is, they dont mind a cut,copy,paste job.

A rio with the skin of a Gypsy, better interiors and the MJD. Wow. Continue dreaming.

[Ford5]

Wait a minute. The same doshi guy had spoken to Hormazd of Autocarindia and in the interview published in the magazine about 1 and half years ago they said the Peugeot 1.5 Diesel was successfully tweaked to match BS4. And now this story about not being present in BS4 markets?

[lavish_n]

I have seen one of them on the roads & it seems quite compact. The Premier site has details of the diesel mil & couple of videos.

[mayankk]

interior wise, its on alto/santro-esque levels of quality, soits not BAD bad.its OK.
I sat in and drove one for about a 100 metres.
They were offering TDs on call in GGN sometime back.
Size wise its quite small.
presence wise, well, youll look different.
price , hard to fight for that.

With the new engine, it will take away one of the 2 major pain points.
Might even justify the tag.
But i feel, if maruti/hyundai had come out with this car, changing nothing else, except the badge, with that engine, we'd have been hounded by rio's on the road by now!

With premier, ok you may buy it, but what the hell are you supposed to do after?
once it goes wrong, you might as well glass it up, put it on display!


PS: I do have an underdog soft spot for this car now.Unjustified, but hey, i still back rossi, I know he'll win soon..

[diesel_power]

AFAIK, Rio was only let down because of the bad reputation (rather no reputation) of the brand, Premier.

Rio is a very compact SUV.

Good for city(read: traffic, congestion, tight parking spaces).

Good enough for 5.

The interior is a bit let down, but I never expected a plush and rich interior from a washed out company. Atleast they are trying to get on their feet.

The car is very good for people who need an SUV and have a very low budget.

And now with a superhit proven diesel mill from FIAT, I think this car will slowly and steadily start climbing the charts.

As to Premier: Start working on your A.S.S centers, you are going to need them now.

[shankar.balan]

very good news for budget SUV buyers. its basically a nice vehicle, this RIO which is the old gen Daihatsu Terios. Now with the MJD engine it will be very good for sales etc.
only problem I found in it really was that the fit and finish was terrible as was the leg room in both the front and back. poor ergonomics overall. the brakes were ghastly too.

if they spruce up their act, they could very well offer the regular joe an excellent vehicle with high GC, just right for our horrible roads! if 4WD comes in, then it would make a very nice reasonably comfy and basic estate or farm use vehicle because it is nice and narrow and compact and can navigate all those rutted tracks with ease!

[honeybee]

That's an interesting news. If indeed the Rio gets the multijet, you suddenly have a contender in a category previously unheard-of. The Rio with the multijet has the potential to revive Premier Auto. I would love to see the vehicle once it's out on the road with the details and pricing.

[chennai-indian]

Introducing the MJD will help them start selling Rio in metros I guess. However, by the time they get around doing that, an already dated looking car will become more dated. Also, need to see whether they can match the current price point after the new engine is introduced.
I think Chinese = Cheap perception will also be very hard to overcome.

[sindabad.sailor]

Looking at the response this thread gathered, I think people have some interest in knowing about this car. Not necessarily buying interest though.

This is one segment where there is only a void of practical solution. Gypsy is too crude IMO on comfort front.

I, like few others, have non-buying interest in this indo-chinese concoction.

As far as space goes, I think this being straight lift of Terios, it is indicating how cramped terios would have been or for that matter educate us compact SUV seekers on what compromises a compact SUV owner might have to make.

Anyways, I wish this model survives with this new attempt again not as a prospective buyer but for having a potential bargaining tool sooner or later when only few compact SUVs would be up in market and would try to take undue advantage of lack of competition while setting price.

Rgds.

[sids911]

Originally Posted by revintup

Just the presence of the MJD is not going to do wonders for the Rio.

+1 , the MJD isnt helping Fiats OWN Punto and Linea. When everyone is selling Diesels on wait list, Punto and Linea are available off the shelf!

Its going to be a tough road for Premier.