Mumbai based automaker, Premier Ltd is planning on a come back in domestic market with its understated SUV, the Premier Rio. Launched in 2010, the SUV failed to do miracles because of its poor quality, fewer features and lack of marketing strategy.
Premier Ltd has now launched the Rio facelift featuring subtle design, improved interiors and packed with features. And since it comes from family of Premier, it comes with an incredibly low price tag of Rs 4.70 lacs.
Maitreya Doshi, Chairman and Managing Director, Premier Automobiles Ltd said that their comeback after almost a decade would focus on the augmentation of allied services like vendors, dealers, etc.
Based on the customer survey and response, Premier Ltd was deciding on the skin of the Premier Rio and its interior features, and at the same time its Chinese counterpart, Zotye was developing the facelift version of Rio. While the whole project invested a time of eight years, the last two years were solely focused on the new product line at the Pune facility.
With the Premier Rio facelift receiving revised exteriors, enhanced interiors and top-notch features, the company has passed the threshold and is ramping up production to its full capacity. Its target is to reach a sales figure of 8,000 units annually, whereas its Pune facility has a capacity of three times as much. Moreover, the company targets to expand its dealer network to 90 by mid 2012. The SUV is claimed to have been built for the city and have remarkable off-road abilities.
According to Doshi, the company is planning for a Euro-4 and Euro-3, petrol and diesel engine, while the former is expected to hit the market in upcoming months. The 2012 Premier Rio featured three engine choices, with entry level 1.1-litre petrol, 1.5-litre TurboDiesel and 1.3-litre multijet diesel top-end variant.
Premier Rio is up for competition with top-end SUVs with a sub-five lacs price tag, he said. Though the SUV market in India is not volume-driven, it is expected to improve in upcoming years with bigger players like Mahindra & Mahindra and Ford gearing up for competition.
