India’s yesteryears car makers, pushed away from the centrestage by a bevy of models, are trying to stage a comeback. Their days of glory may be behind them but they too want a share of the action in the automotive market.

While Hindustan Motors is working on redesigning the iconic Ambassador brand for which it has hired a Pune-based design firm Onio Design to give the Amby an entirely new-look, Premier (earlier Premier Automobiles) will be rolling out a new vehicle, albeit in the SUV segment. ?It is a virgin segment. It will be a good segment to be in as there are no established player in the segment,? says Maitreya Doshi, CMD of Premier.

Premier had been talking of launching the new SUV christened RiO and has showcased the vehicle last year. Now, we are ready to roll out the vehicle, says Premier Doshi. The company had rolled out some models from the old assembly line and had a soft launch to get feedback as part of the pre-product launch. Now a new assembly line has come up at the Chinchwad plant and the company is gearing up to ramp up production. Based on customer feedback, the company has changed some things in the RiO, most of it in the interior look and feel, Doshi said. He is also setting up a network of dealers and spares and support network before he can launch the compact SUV in the market. ?We will by 70 to 80 dealers by April 2011 and 100 dealers by June,? Doshi said.

He acknowledges that his company is small and they cannot have large operations and investments like the large companies so he will be following a ?low risk strategy’. He will be a small company following an outsourced model with a focus on the niche segment. The project has seen investments of around Rs 150 crore. The compact SUV is a five seater with a price tag between Rs 5 to Rs 6 lakh for a fully loaded model ex-showrom Pune.

RiO will not be the only one and more cars are on the way. ?We are talking to our Chinese partners to bring in three to four products more into our portfolio,? Doshi said.

Even a small share of the market would be a resurrection for the country’s pioneer car manufacturers.