As we reported earlier, that Premier Rio will get Fiat 1.3 Multijet diesel engine for BS IV markets from this-year. Now the CEO of Fiat India Automobiles, Rajeev Kapoor mentioned that the company is engaged in talks with the Pune based automotive company Premier Ltd. regarding the supply of diesel engines for Premier’s compact SUV Rio. The diesel engine that Rio is planning on sourcing from Fiat India is the 1.3-liter MultiJet engine that drives a power of 75 BHP. Fiat India also supplies this multijet engine to five car brands and is soon to add one more brand to its list. Conveniently leaving out the details, Mr. Kapoor added that the company would disclose the duration of contract and the number of engines to be supplied by next month.
Premier Ltd. is known for its Padmini car that was manufactured from 1964 to 2000. In the 90’s decade Premier entered into a Joint Venture with Peugeot (France) and Fiat but since 2004 the company is operating as a separate company. In 2009 the company launched the compact SUV Rio and marked its re-entry in the passenger car segment. Mr. Kapoor also threw light on its contract with Maruti Suzuki India and mentioned that Fiat signed a three year contract with the country’s biggest car maker Maruti Suzuki in January. Under this contract Fiat will supply one lakh units of diesel engines to Maruti Suzuki every year for three years. He added that, Fiat will manufacture all the engines meant for Maruti Suzuki India and Premier Ltd. at the company’s Ranjangaon facility in Maharahstra.
Mr. Kapoor also indicated that the company is looking forward to enhancing its sales figures and is planning on increasing the number of exclusive showrooms from 2 to 25 in 20 locations by the end of this year There is however a condition in opening of an exclusive showroom; only those dealers who are currently operating joint showrooms with Tata Motors can open these exclusive showrooms. The company is expected to announce the product strategy and the detailed network by the end of this month.
Also see – 2012 Auto Expo – Premier Rio facelift 3 variants showcased
Premier plans set-up 200 Authorized Service Stations for ‘Rio’ by June
