Remember Premier auto? One of India’s oldest car makers with the cult Padmini model they are trying for a come back next year with an old SUV model from a Chinese auto firm called Zotye Auto. That’s right old and Chinese that ought to do it but lets give this one a try before we completely reject it,
Zotye has an SUV model called Zotye 2008, which is based on Toyota owned Daihatsu’s Terios. The car is expected to be named Premier Rio for India. The selling point of this car would be its price and the new niche it will create in India, the Mini SUV segment. The Xylos and the Sumo Grandes all have engines twice the size of the Zotye 2008’s engine which is a 4-cylinder Mitsubishi engine with a capacity of 1.3L and a torque of 108 Nm.
On a similar note the Toyota Qualis which was a 1986 model and two generations old when it was launched in India in 2000. It recorded the most sales when it was phased out in 2004. But it’s anyone’s guess that Zotye Auto will face serious troubles as it is no Qualis and this is no 2000 for SUVs in India.
October 24, 2009
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