Premier Automobiles, Fiat’s erstwhile partner in India, is back in the passenger vehicle business with the launch of RiO compact SUV. The Premier RiO measure less than 4 meters in length and aims to cater the between the midsize passenger cars and larger utility vehicles which curretly has no other offerings.

The RiO is powered by a 1489 CC turbo diesel engine which develops 65 bhp @ 4000 rpm and a maximum 150 nm of torque @ 2250-3000 rpm. The engine is mated to a 5-Speed manual gearbox and drives the rear wheels. The company claims a fuel mileage of 16 km/litre.

The RiO will be assembled at Premier’s Pune plant through a component supply agreement with Zoyte Group of China. The company will assemble 500 vehicles every month and sell it through its dealers in a phased manner starting with West and South India. The company currently has 30 dealers throughout India which will be expanded to 100 by next year. The company is offering 3 years warranty on the RiO.

The RiO will come in three variants - EX, DX, LX with prices starting from Rs 5.25 Lakhs going all the way to Rs 5.95 Lakhs for the top end version. Power steering, front power windows and central locking are standard across the range while the higher spec variants will also come with MP3 player, ABS and chuncky alloy wheels. The RiO also comes with a non AC variant (Free Sauna anyone?)

The RiO will currently come only in the BS III spec. The company has promised to upgrade it to BS IV before the new emission norms become compulsory in April 2010. Color options for the RiO include- Red, White, Silver, Black and Blue.