Liberalisation
With the Economic liberalisation in India, Premier teamed up with Peugeot to build an outdated model of the popular Peugeot 309 in India. Production began in 1998 and initial demand was high. Labour problems and poor dealer service led to problems that were compounded when Premier also aligned themselves with Fiat to manufacture the Fiat Uno. Peugeot pulled out of the venture around 2000 after only a few thousand cars sold. Labour and service issues also plagued the Fiat venture and a strike finally caused that plant to shut around 2001. Fiat and Premier faced severe criticism in the media. There were various criminal cases against its promoters and the consumer courts of India were flooded with complaints for non-refund of the car booking. The promoters of Premier Automobiles have also been confronted with criminal cases in various consumer courts of India under section 27 of the Consumer Protection Act. A customer association based at Gujarat-Rajkot called PAL Car Customer Association has made various representations against the Premier Automobiles Ltd.
In November 2004, Premier restarted operations by building a small diesel-powered van called the Sigma.[9] It was based on a 1980s Mitsubishi Varica design licensed from China Motor in Taiwan, originally intended to be fitted with Peugeot's TUD5 diesel engine. The production version, as finally presented in late 2004, instead had a Hindustan-built 2-liter Isuzu diesel unit. It has 58 hp and is mated to a four-speed manual gearbox, while the car offers from five to nine seats.[10] A multitude of other versions have since been developed, and as of December 2009 the engine has been replaced by a 1.5-liter IDI diesel (with or without turbo) or by the CNG-powered 1.8-liter 4ZB1 (both still manufactured by Hindustan).[11] The facelift also meant improved suspension.[12] There was also a pickup version of the Sigma, called the Premier Roadstar.[13]
Premier was structured as two business segments: Engineering and Automotive. The Engineering segment focussed on - CNC Machine Division and Engineering, while the Automotive segment consists of light utility vehicles and sports utility vehicles. Originally based in Mumbai, it was using an ISO 9001 certified plant in Chinchwad, Pune. Spread over 27 acres, this plant was used as centralized research, development and manufacturing for all activities.[14]
In October 2009, Premier re-entered the Indian passenger vehicle market with a compact SUV named RiO.[15] Rio is assembled from CKD kits of Zotye Nomad I made by Zotye Auto of China, and went on sale in December 2009.[12] This vehicle was itself a poorly built copy of Daihatsu's old Terios model again from the 1998.
In December 2018 the company filed for bankruptcy.[16] Production of the Rio had beenstopped, and the land of Pune factory was sold in year 2019.[17]
