Premier has finally made its entry in the car segment, after making people to wait for a very long time. Earlier Premier was in partnership with Peugeot & later with Fiat & sold models like Uno, 309 & Siena but none of them was able to score well in the market. This partnership did not continue for a longer time & the companies parted their ways. After separation & without taking anyone else’s assistance, Premier came up with a pick up van, roadster, which fell in the category of Light Commercial Vehicles & another van, Sigma. Company faced hard luck on this front also.
It is a common notion that whenever a company enters in the automobile market, it initially launches small vehicles so that it can get a fair idea about the ongoing trends in market & varying needs of people. But what do we say about Premier, whether it is its risk taking ability, habit of facing new challenges or willingness to do something new, as it has directly entered into the SUV segment cars, by launching Premier RiO. This is not an ordinary SUV. It is the first SUV of India, which is small in size.
Paint & Alloy wheels, used on the outer body, were the only 2 best things among the other outer body features. 215/70 R15 tyre specifications & the dense architecture makes it distinguishable from the other SUV’s. Boarding the car gave us the feel that the retro time period is repeating itself as the interiors are grayish blue in color, the same color which was used in 1980’s by Japanese in selling their cars in nations abroad. Interiors are not very good as the quality of plastic used is beneath standard. The buttons are tight to press & we thought that we should sit without using any functionality or features, instead of juggling with the buttons. Little scratching of the Premier stickers led to their complete removal. Rotating the steering wheel, did not give us the feel of SUV, as it is wobbly, compared to its counterpart in other SUV’s.
Behind RiO’s design is present a Chinese car, manufactured by Zotye. Chinese cars have left hand drive & intimating them, this Indian version of Nomad, RiO is rolled out in China by the name of Nomad, has antenna, for its 4-speaker audio system & CD player, on the A pillar of left hand side. Company says that it is a small size SUV & we totally agree with them as the space inside the car is not sufficient to give a comfortable seating. In the front part, the driver cabin & at the back the trunk section has moderate amount of space, but we feel very sad for the passengers who will be sitting in the middle row, as they will have to face space related issues & their comfort level will also be compromised as the seats are not comfortable, because of poor cushioning.
Though the car does not cost much like other SUV’s & act as filler between a hatch back & an entry level Sedan, but its interior features may act as repellent.
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