Premier Auto to expand dealership network

Premier Automobiles Ltd (PAL) plans to establish its dealership network across the nation in the next three months.

The company has already appointed dealers in western and southern India. It now plans to appoint dealers in northern and eastern India in the next three months.

PAL used to have a joint venture with Fiat Automobiles and manufactured the Premier 118 NE, Palio, Uno and Siena models at its Mumbai facility.

Now the company has entered into a technical collaboration with the Taiwan-based China Motor Corporation. It has recently rolled out two models in the multi purpose vehicle (called Sigma) and light commercial vehicle (Roadstar) segments.

PAL has now started establishing a new dealership network for its new vehicles that will be rolled out from the Pune facility.

"We have strategically chosen to stay out of the mainstream. Instead, we have identified an unexplored niche segment. We are selecting dealers who are customer oriented and have background of dealing in LCVs," said Atul Akolkar, head, sales and marketing, PAL.

PAL has already set up a dealership network in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

The company has appointed 24 dealers so far and these will appoint sub-dealers to expand the network further.

PAL has appointed Interactive Impact, an advertising agency to take care of the promotions.

"We will use the print medium at the initial stage and will opt for the electronic medium once the dealership network is established across the nation," said Akolkar.

The company is also working on developing one more model. However, PAL sources preferred to keep the plans under wraps.