This Indian automotive firm was first established in 1944 as Premier Automobiles Ltd. The company started out by building cars under license from Dodge and Plymouth. It was in 1951 when the company began producing versions of the Fiat 500 for the Indian market and the company went on to become the pioneer of automobile manufacturing in India. But it wasn’t until 1973 when the company began to use the name Premier.
The company logo was featured on the Indian version of the Fiat 1100, known famously as the Premier Padmini. Originally the manufacturing facility was situated in Mumbai but the company relocated to a more modern facility in Pune. After suffering heavy losses from the partnership with Fiat and its brand image suffering a huge blow, the Indian car maker shut down production in 2000. However, in 2008 the company restarted production and changed the name of the company to Premier Ltd. Today the company has re-entered the Indian passenger market with the launch of India’s first compact diesel SUV known as the Rio. Other products in the newly launched range of commercial vehicles designed specifically for Indian roads are the Sigma (a compact, multi-utility diesel van) and Roadstar (a highly versatile pickup truck).