Tuesday, November 22, 2011
By Pranjal Gera
Following Maruti and Tata, now Premier Auto to get Fiat diesel engine
After assisting Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors with its diesel engine, the Italian carmaker Fiat has found another admirer of its 1.3L Multi-jet diesel engine in the form of Premier Automobiles Limited (PAL). The company is in talks with Fiat to provide them the supply of 1.3L Multi-jet diesel power-train that will empower its first compact Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) called ‘Premier Rio’.
PAL was established in the year 1944, its iconic car Padmini went on to rule the Indian roads from the year 1955 to 1985 especially in the form of ‘cabs’. PAL launched its mini utility vehicle Rio in the year 2009 and that marked company’s re-entry into the passenger car segment.
As per the agreement the company plans to bring-in 6,000 to 8,000 diesel engines from Fiat that are compliant to emission norms of Bharat Stage IV (BSIV). It is expected that by January next year the company will make available emission norm compliant Rio, in all the cities including the BSIV cities nationwide.
On the other hand, Fiat is unable to post decent figures in vehicle sales since long, however this sort of engine sharing will support the company in compensating the sales loss. The same engine currently powers Tata Indica Vista and Maruti Swift apart from its own sedan Fiat Linea and hatchback Grande Punto.
Maitreya Doshi, the Managing Director and Chairman at Premier stated that since its launch the mini SUV Premier Rio has been able to make sales of only 2,000 units in the smaller cities due to the lack of BSIV power-train. After 1.3L Multi-jet diesel engine empowers Rio, it will be a different scenario on the whole, as it will now reach the major cities in the country, Doshi added.
