Premier Rio 1.3 to go on sale from August 2

July 31, 2012: Premier Ltd is to commence deliveries of its compact Rio SUV equipped with the 1.3-litre Multijet diesel engine sourced from Fiat India Automobiles Ltd (FIAL) from August 2, 2012 through dealers in select cities.

FIAL makes the engine at its Ranjangaon plant near Pune. The two companies had sealed the deal for supply of the engine on May 17 this year. 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 which Premier manufactures under license from Peugeot, meets BS III norms.

The new 1.3 Multijet engine will enhance Rio diesel’s power from the 64bhp to 67bhp. 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). The TUD5-engined Rio, however, will not be discontinued. In an interview to Autocar Professional earlier this year, Rakesh Mehra, head of Premier’s Automotive Division had said: “We will retain the TUD5-engined version for Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities where the need is for BS III vehicles.”

Meanwhile, Premier, which currently has a nationwide sales and service network of 55 dealers, is expanding operations to 100 outlets by December 2012. It is also setting up 200 authorised service outlets all across the country called PASS ( Premier Authorised Service Stations), all equipped to support the Rio.