The Indian auto major Premier has come forth with a cheap urban SUV – the Rio. Premier Rio is a rebadged Zoyte 5008, CKD kits of which are being imported from China. The car also has a Japanese connection as the Zoyte 5008 is alleged to being a copy of the last gen Daihatsu Terios. Premier is hoping to make a cut due to Rio’s aggressive pricing, making it one of the cheapest SUV available.
In India, the Premier Rio is sold with three engine options – a 1.2 litre petrol with enough power to drive withing city limits, a 1.5 TUD5 Peugeot IDI diesel engine that is old enough to be kept in a museum and a 1.3 litre multi-jet diesel engine also known as the ‘national diesel engine’, because this engine already powers more than 10 cars in Indian auto market and its one of the most efficient engines available.
The patent drawings above show that Zoyte is all set to give the 5008 a minor facelift. The new front end would include new headlamps, fog lamps, front grill and a new front bumper. The rear also has a revised bumper with larger tail lamps. The car would also sport a wider roof spoiler. Rumors are that the interiors will be getting new colour tones.
Premier will be setting up 200 authorized service outlets to support the Rio. It will be selling both Rio and the revised version of the Rio – the Rio+.
Checkout more leaked sketches below the jump.
Also see – New Premier RiO CRDi4 launched at Rs. 6.74 lakh
Source – Auto.sohu.com
