[teamveevee]

I personally think there is huge potential for a compact SUVs in rural areas. But the service network of Premier will be an issue. Once Mahindra comes out with the compact SUV, i am sure it is going to be a big big hit. I am surprised that no compact SUV figues in future product plans of Tata Motors yet(Do not consider the version of Sumo as compact SUV). I think it is a mistake from TMs part to ignore this segment...

[Ricky_63]

Originally Posted by sidindica

and then will use it, and do this.

Jeremy Clarkson Destroys Lada - Video

Incidentally the Premier 118 looks the same to me

[devarshi84]

I am not sure if it is common knowledge and discussed before but the Rio has had mitsubishi 4g15 support at some point in time. I found this piece of info on Wikipedia.

Zotye 2008 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Fiat&Me]

Hi,
First time in Hyderabad I have spotted "Premier RIO".
I was returning from visiting my colleague at Secunderabad.
She was nicely parked on tank bund road and owner was enjoying beautiful scene of Hussain sagar. Being a latest product from PAL and my favourite blue colour, I have requested him for photo . The sad part:- he was also owning a Padmini from 1995 but sold in 2008 and bought Swift. This is his 2nd acquisition.
As a Padmini owner somehow I have a soft corner about PAL.
Premier roadster can't make much impact but at least I wish them best of luck for success of RIO.
They should sell some odd 400-500 RIOs per month to be alive in automobile market of India.

[hillram]

Narendra..I have seen few RIOs in Hyderabad.I even visited the showroom in Bhoiguda when it was launched.

[shankar.balan]

We drove this again properly last week at Komura Premier in Koramangala with my dad and mum to evaluate it again as a potential vehicle for their use.

some more feedback:

both front and rear seats are just about reasonable.
all the seats lack under-thigh support though. in the rear the seating position is not bad and the clutch handle located above the window is quite nice because it is spring loaded.
the engine labours terribly when trying to accelerate despite its turbo charger. (I didnt expect too much being the old peugeot TUD5 from the old Esteem/ Zen.
I think this vehicle, being chinese made, the pedals are too close together so my dad and I found the accelerator and brake pedals to get in the way of each other. the refinement levels are quite sad. the window switches and other electrical controls are located weirdly.

the overall quality of fit and finish is quite poor. the roof rails were coming off on the car displayed inside the showroom!

the new version with upgraded(?) engine and ABS etc is still quite sad. theyre trying very hard though! ABS kicks in quite easily under hard braking so I think it works. Though Ive not seen it in wet conditions.

the ground clearance is excellent and one feels confident going over bumps and potholes. but the dampening effect is not that great. however there is considerably less body roll than in a Scorpio(possibly because the vehicle is smaller overall). The tyres are from some strange brand. 205 size on 15 inch wheels. OEM alloy wheels look quite nice. looking at it from the front, the vehicle does look odd - especially the grille etc - well, it looks rather Chinese!

all in all it is a nice concept but the refinement, quality, fit and finish levels being offered in a 7.62 lac car are terrible indeed (On Road BLR price).

the dealer gave us a customer's vehicle to test drive and I told him quite clearly that if I were the customer I would be highly displeased indeed! they dont have a TD vehicle as of now in this upgraded avatar. I believe it is expected soon though.

This concept is an excellent one as an alternative to the normal hatch/ sedan but unless they seriously concentrate and improve it overall, it will remain a dead duck!

Here are some more pics!

cheers

[sreedotk]

I dont know what it is about the Car , The colour or the angle of the photos. But the Car does look quite nice. If it was from a more renowned brand it would be shifting out of the showrooms faster than they can make

[shankar.balan]

i do agree the car looks nice. and it is an excellent concept.
to make it successful they really need to concentrate on quality which is very sad as of now.
also - it costs 7.62 Lacs on road which is not cheap.

One thing I forgot to add - the rear luggage space is cavernous indeed. With the seats completely folded down, it becomes a very large luggage bay. The seats fold down and create this space almost as intelligently as the Honda Jazz does. Thats a very nice point in the Premier Rio's favour!

Originally Posted by sreedotk

I dont know what it is about the Car , The colour or the angle of the photos. But the Car does look quite nice. If it was from a more renowned brand it would be shifting out of the showrooms faster than they can make

[DWind]

Since it is available in Bangalore and Hyderabad does it mean it passes BSIV norms now? I thought they were going for 1.3 MJD because they could not meet BSIV with the TUD5 engine.

[octane_100]

7.62 L OTR!!!!! The erstwhile Fusion suddenly looks awesome value!! It was only slightly ahead of its time.... :(

[shankar.balan]

@dwind - not sure of BS4 -but I dont think they can casually sell it if it werent compliant because the RTO wont register it.
@Octane - I couldnt agree more - the Fusion's only mistake is that it was launched maybe 5 years too early and without a Diesel option at that time. Unfortunately when they did bring in the Diesel the price OTR BLR was 8 lacs!
But maybe even now it is not too late for them to resurrect - provided they can keep the price at a more controllable level like they have with the Figo.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

all in all it is a nice concept but the refinement, quality, fit and finish levels being offered in a 7.62 lac car are terrible indeed (On Road BLR price).

I can think of a million better ways to spend 7.5 lakhs. Someone please tell me what Premier has been smoking. They don't have the product, they certainly don't have the brand and the car itself is outdated in terms of tech. Good thing about competition is, the market leaves no room for such poor offerings.

[shankar.balan]

indeed the market leaves no room for poor stuff and this vehicle is way overpriced at 7.62
the showroom people hinted at a good discount though, so when pressed the amount came to 20000/-!

Originally Posted by GTO

I can think of a million better ways to spend 7.5 lakhs. Someone please tell me what Premier has been smoking. They don't have the product, they certainly don't have the brand and the car itself is outdated in terms of tech. Good thing about competition is, the market leaves no room for such poor offerings.

[devarshi84]

As per the rule IIRC, the dealer can sell cars in stock but cannot buy new ones. So this one is definitely a BSIII.

I am of the opinion that the Logan diesel engine from Renault should suit this car better.

[aniketi]

I must admit that car looks stunning in red color in the above pics. Sad part is that its a PAL product with china technology. This car should have grabbed by Maruti, Tata or M&M. It would have been instant hit like anything. Imagine this car comes with India engine i.e. famous Fiat MJD & Maruti manufacturing. I guess it would have 1 year waiting at least