Premier also began to offer features that were considered luxuries in Indian cars at the time like an air-conditioner, leather upholstery, courtesy lights and tinted glass.  

With the arrival of Maruti Suzuki in the mid-1980s and more foreign car manufacturers coming to India post the liberalization of the Indian economy in 1991, the popularity of Padmini began to wane slowly.

 The span of a car model, even a successful one, is about 25 years. The Ford Model T was in production for just 19 years, and the Alec Issigonis-designed Morris Minor for 23 years.

After economic liberalisation in India, PAL partnered with Peugeot to build an internationally outdated model of the popular Peugeot 309 in India. Production began in 1998 and there was high demand initially.  

However, bad dealer service and labour issues impacted the partnership and Peugeot pulled out of the venture around 2000 after only a few thousand cars sold.  

The partnership with Fiat continued with the manufacturing of Fiat Uno. However, the service & labour issues continued. Ultimately a strike caused the manufacturing plant to shut in 2001. People who paid the booking amount took the company to court and got their money back.  

Premier made multiple efforts to restart their operations with different vehicles, but nothing really took off to make them an automobile giant in India again. Finally, in December 2018, the company filed for bankruptcy.

The land on which their only remaining factory stood, in Pune, was sold that same year. From being Mumbai’s lifeline to a prominent feature in films, Padmini survived six decades in India.  

Was the car elbowed out by more modern vehicles or did it simply run the course is more of an existential question now. If you have any personal memories with Padmini, please share on Pixstroy