Premier Auto will launch an upgraded version of the Rio in 2012. The company will be giving the diesel Rio an all new heart, which will be in collaboration with Fiat. We were quick to spy two Rio’s which were under test on Dehu Road in Pune. The driver was not happy seeing us click pictures and ran away. Before we removed the camera to snap the compact SUV, we asked him what’s new? He told us that the car has slight upgrades but did not reveal anything about the engine powering it. Could Premier be testing the Rio Multijet in disguise?
Slight changes were evident in the interiors and quality seemed to have improved slightly. The headlights are clear lens type and the car features ABS (Anti-lock brakes). The steering wheel has chrome inserts along with beige interiors, while the heavy camouflaging does not help matters much and the overall shape of the Rio looks the same. This car is the Zotye Nomad II, which replaced the Nomad I in the Chinese market. It uses a 1.5-liter petrol motor to produce 78 PS of peak power at 6000 RPM and 134 Nm of peak torque at 4500 RPM. There are high chances of Premier Auto not being present at the 2012 Auto Expo, so we can expect the Rio facelift to be launched anytime in January 2012. Meanwhile the Multijet powered Rio too should go on sale at the same time, with prices expected to start around Rs. 6 lakhs.
