Premier 118NE History

In 1981 Premier began acquiring the production tooling and techniques for the facelifted SEAT 124 D — itself a Spanish-built Fiat 124 derivative — after receiving authorisation from Fiat. The resulting car, launched in autumn 1985 as the Premier 118NE, differed from the original Italian Fiat 124 primarily in its powertrain: Premier installed a Nissan A12 engine (1,171 cc, 52 bhp) and matching Nissan manual gearbox in place of the Fiat unit, making for a distinctly hybrid mechanical specification.

The 118NE was positioned as a slightly larger, more modern alternative to the aging Padmini, but it never displaced its sibling in public affection or taxi-fleet orders. In 1996 Premier added a diesel variant, the 1.38D, using an engine licensed from Fratelli Negri Macchine Diesel Sud of Italy. Near the end of its production run a variant called the Viceroy appeared in collaboration with Peugeot. Both the 118NE and the Padmini were phased out around 2001 as Premier ceased passenger-car assembly at Kurla.