[mayankk]

ah, another day, another thread on the rio!!
This has turned out to be quite a debated car on the forum!!
Pesonally, I love it for the underdog status.
but just for the car, not for the company.
If i knew where and when i would get a , say, shot fuel pump one could look at buying this car.
That is THE biggest problem right now.
If you need some backup for the rio, you wouldnt know where youd get it, for how much, or when.

[Nitrous Power]

Originally Posted by xingamazon

I dont understand why people are getting pissed off with the car. Come on take a break. I know its not that good looking and I know its not priced that well.

And regarding Chinese make not safe etc, oh come on grow up. China is leading the world of so many places. and it is too naive to say China has no quality. Do you know most of the Iphones are manufactured by Foxconn (not Apple) in the facility in China.
Dont stereotype China with low quality, you will end up being outdated later on. Just like how many companies in US has become now.

FYI, Foxconn manufactures iPhones / iPad under strict control of Apple as far as Quality is concerned. Whereas, Rio is based on Daihatsu but manufactured by Chinese company and there are no stringent quality checks are applied as far as this product is concerned. I understand, Chinese makes good qulaity stuff but only when they are third party manufacturers for a leading global company.

As far as Rio is concerned, I think it's more of a Premier's image issue than the Rio itself. But the new version showcased in Auto Expo looks good for the price point.

[WindRide]

Maybe iam among the minority, but i like a car to look like a car, not an alien on wheels.
Rio looks HOT!! Nicely proportioned for city drives and would look at home on highways as well. The MJD on it is the icing on the cake.

Buying one is a different matter altogether. Premier must earn trust. Then this car will sell like hot cakes, iam sure.

[Ym-enjn]

Anyone who buys Rio should start collecting its spare parts as well. If the situation is so bad then they should book some basic extra parts along their car booking, take them at the time of delivery and keep in their basements, like the offroaders do for old model Jeeps.

[mallumowgli]

Originally Posted by Ym-enjn

Anyone who buys Rio should start collecting its spare parts as well. If the situation is so bad then they should book some basic extra parts along their car booking, take them at the time of delivery and keep in their basements, like the offroaders do for old model Jeeps.

Is there any reason for saying so? Am yet to read a long term review of Premier Rio. Let us be objective about what we say and avoid writing epitaph before it is born!! Yes, the company's credentials, going by the history, is suspect. But if they are earnest this time, it is better for the Indian market, right?

[sharninder]

Agree with bigron. I don't think there is anything wrong with the car. Yes, it will not have the quality of a BMW or Audi or even a Maruti but then I'm pretty sure it'll be close to what the Tatas or Mahindras offer. With the 1.3MJD engine I'm sure it'll do well as a Taxi or first car in tier C cities. We, on TBHP, sometimes forget that there is a huge huge car market outside the T1 cities and for them this is a perfectly good car, if there is a decent service network to boot.

[nawalsingal]

Originally Posted by xingamazon

I dont understand why people are getting pissed off with the car. Come on take a break. I know its not that good looking and I know its not priced that well.

Dear, you are raising questions or answering them? A Car, not good looking, Not priced well(your own admission), and from a company called "Premier", whose credibility we all are aware of (my observation),still we shouldn't be pissed off? Though this is India & anything sells here, so will Rio. Numbers: well that's a different ball game.

[lavish_n]

Compared to the earlier version of RIO the face lift looks quite good.
As a car (Compact SUV), RIO is very practical. I will not comment on the history of Premier & share my thoughts on RIO. If any of you have seen the Premier site would see the earlier version for comparison. It also has NDTV coverage of RIO.

Especially the front bumper has been upgraded quite well. The MJD would be one of USP on selling the RIO.
Will wait to see the interiors of face lifted one & ownership review if at all any one of TBHP members buys one.

[Durango Dude]

@Jalsa: I wish you had also got some pics of the interior's too.

[W.A.G.7]

The facelift version, looks much better than the previous one. This will find takers somewhere, at-least in the taxi segment. Somewhere a niche market for this vehicle does exist. It all remains to be seen how Premier encashes on this opportunity. Actually this thing should have been introduced some 10-12 years ago. But then better late than never

[PAVAN KADAM]

When we guys make such a big hue and cry over the quality and service from the Fiats/ TATA's or even the Hyundai's sometime, how on earth can such a Crude product survive in the market.

By roping in the famed Fiat Multijet engines, i feel PREMIER feels it can Swift the sales.

This car is doomed from the day it read PREMIER.

This car will go the same way the San Storm/ Peugeot went, Harsh but a Reality.

On a serious note, its shocking to know, what would have been the fate of so many hatchbacks in the country if not for Fiat

[rsjaurr]

Few days back while going through a traffic jam,I happened to see a nice looking vehicle, size in between Maruti Gypsy and safari in fact quite identical to these two approaching towards me.I couldn't recognize it from emblem but from back I came to know that was Rio. I was impressed with the looks,overall exterior fit and finish and paint quality.However I didn't see the inside of car.

As pointed by someone earlier these might sell in tier3 cities,smaller towns and rural areas along with taxi segments if they can expand service network.

Manufacturer should at-least get thumbs up for their effort if not the sales.

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by rsjaurr

Few days back while going through a traffic jam,I happened to see a nice looking vehicle, size in between Maruti Gypsy and safari in fact quite identical to these two approaching towards me.I couldn't recognize it from emblem but from back I came to know that was Rio. I was impressed with the looks,overall exterior fit and finish and paint quality.However I didn't see the inside of car.

As pointed by someone earlier these might sell in tier3 cities,smaller towns and rural areas along with taxi segments if they can expand service network.

Manufacturer should at-least get thumbs up for their effort if not the sales.

Interiors are okay too.
Spot on for the price.
You can compare it to the base models of some hatches.

[carwatcher]

I feel that the company should be appreciated for their efforts. Yes, the question comes to mind is if Premier has not used their name and launched with some other name then it would have been better. But at the same time Premier helps some people to understand that they have a long presence in the automoblile sector. So its a tough call for them to sell under brand name Premier or not and it seems they preferred to use it.
Similarly the vicious circle company is facing itself in, people saying that don't buy their product as they will shut shop and you have to run for spare parts. Less sales forces company to shut shop and people don't buy due to fear of company shutting shop resulting in less sales. Its the most unfortunate situation for any company.
Similarly, if they go more in Taxi segment, then image will definitely take a dent in non-taxi market. Indica and Logan are glaring examples. But anyway if they get good numbers like Logan and Indica then No problem in living with taxi image.
And yes, Rio looks really beautiful.

Lastly, I don't think that on a forum like T-Bhp which is for auto-enthusiasts, one should bash any car especially the new entrants in the market just for fun. Infact, in our country as much as manufacturers are being blamed, govt. is also to be blamed for making toothless and irrelevant laws which are extremely biased.

[aravind.anand]

The old Rio looked, erm, Old! But look at what a face lift has done to the Rio. It looks too good suddenly. Especially the news about the MJD oil burner is too sweet. Now if Premier could do something about its brand image, the Rio could light the fireworks in the Mini SUV segment, even before the Ford Ecosport and the Renault Duster join the party