In October 1947, Premier Ltd manufactured the first Indian made trucks and cars rolled out onto the streets of independent India.

The car was initially marketed as a Fiat ("1100 Delight") and subsequently as the Premier Padmini with a 40 hp (30 kW) 1100 cc engine and manufactured at the now defunct Kurla factory in suburban Mumbai.

[citation needed] Labour and service issues also plagued the Fiat venture and a strike finally caused that plant to shut around 2001.

There were various criminal cases against its promoters and the consumer courts of India were flooded with complaints for non-refund of the car booking.

A customer association based at Gujarat-Rajkot called PAL Car Customer Association has made various representations against the Premier Automobiles Ltd.[citation needed] In November 2004, Premier restarted operations by building a small diesel-powered van called the Sigma.

[9] It was based on a 1980s Mitsubishi Varica design licensed from China Motor in Taiwan, originally intended to be fitted with Peugeot's TUD5 diesel engine.

[10] A multitude of other versions have since been developed, and as of December 2009 the engine has been replaced by a 1.5-liter IDI diesel (with or without turbo) or by the CNG-powered 1.8-liter 4ZB1 (both still manufactured by Hindustan).

[14] In October 2009, Premier re-entered the Indian passenger vehicle market with a compact SUV named RiO.