May 17, 2012: Premier Ltd is to source at least 28,000 units of Fiat’s popular 1.3-litre Multijet engine over the next three years. According to Fiat, this volume may rise later. The engine, which will be manufactured at Fiat’s Ranjangaon plant near Pune, will be fitted in Premier’s compact SUV, the Rio. Premier, which is in the “final stages of technical integration” of the engine, expects to start deliveries of the Rio 1.3 by August/September. The image depicts Maitreya Doshi, CMD of Premier, and Rajeev Kapoor, president and CEO, Fiat India Automobiles, announcing the pact earlier today.
The Rio 1.3 will be crucial as it will help Premier to sell the diesel variant in India’s BS IV markets. The Rio’s petrol version meets BS IV norms but the diesel variant, powered by the TUD5 engine, meets BS III norms. The new engine will enhance Rio diesel’s power from the current 64bhp to 7bhp. The new version is expected to be priced around Rs 45,000 more than the current diesel variant which comes for Rs 6.36 lakh, (ex-showroom, Pune).
Premier is also simultaneously working on expanding its sales and service network. The company says it will ramp up its dealership network to 100, from the current level of 60 by the end of this year. It is also in the process of setting up 200 authorised service stations.
The compact SUV space is set to see some new players starting from this year. Global and domestic OEMs like Ford, Mahindra& Mahindra, Hyundai and Suzuki are lining up models for this segment. Ford and M&M are expected to launch their models this year.