A while ago, we brought you a story about the Premier Rio Mini SUV coming with a CRDI Diesel engine, which could be the award winning 1.3 Liter multijet unit from FIAT. Now, we also have a story emerging about the Premier Rio getting a petrol engine in June 2011. Now, one would wonder about the timing of the petrol motor, at a time when most of the cars being sold in India are arriving with diesel power. However, this move from Premier seems to be focusing on those set of customers who use their cars sparingly.
In such a scenario, a petrol powered car makes sense as the initial buying cost will be lower by at least INR 70,000 to INR 1 Lakh, not to mention the fact that the running costs won’t be too much of a bother given the limited running that the car might see. This is exactly what Premier seems to be thinking, and this fact finds an explicit mention in Premier’s shareholder report for 2010-11. Along with this, Premier has also announced that the Rio will arrive with a CRDI Diesel engine in August 2011.
Premier '10-'11 AGM Report Excerpt
Now that June is already a distant speck in the rear view mirror with August too in the wane, the launch of the facelifted Premier Rio with the new petrol and diesel engine options seems to have been delayed. However, a Premier dealer maintains that the festive season of Dusshera-Diwali will see the launch of the CRDI Diesel engine powered facelifted Premier Rio. Currently the Premier Rio features the tried and tested TUD5 turbodiesel engine from Peugeot.
If indeed the FIAT Multijet CRDI diesel engine makes it into the Premier Rio in the coming few months, expect sales to pick up as the Multijet engine has all the potential to be a remarkable upgrade from the TUD5 diesel engine, both in terms of performance as well as fuel economy. We’re hoping that Premier manages to offer the Rio CRDI with a negligible price increase if it is serious about achieving its target of sharply improving volumes.
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