Talks of India-based Mahindra bringing a small, diesel-powered pickup to the U.S. have gone on for years now, with the first suggested on-sale date of Q1 2009. In fact, Mahindra assured Leftlane directly in mid-2008 that it would have its trucks “in the dealer showroom sometime in the second half of 2009.”
Now, after yet another series of delays and with no apparent intention of bringing the truck to market by the December date currently set, Mahindra’s U.S. distributor, Global Vehicles USA, has filed a lawsuit against the automaker regarding the continual delays – according to a report by GlobalAtlanta, confirmed by PickupTrucks.
GV USA cites expenditures of nearly $35 million towards the development of a dealer network that it has secured, citing over 350 dealers waiting to receive the new-to-the-U.S. compact pickup. The distributor argues that Mahindra has intentionally caused continual delays, as evidenced by the failure of Mahindra to even file for the proper EPA certification, as confirmed to PickupTrucks by a member of the EPA.
It is also believed that Mahindra’s motivation for delaying the on-sale date of the truck is to attempt to circumvent the arrangement with GV USA as the sole distributor for its truck. GV USA’s lawsuit aims to force Mahindra to honor its existing agreement with the distributor, to block the automaker from approaching other distributors and to require Mahindra to finish the certification and bring the truck to market as quickly as possible.
Mahindra has not yet made any announcements concerning the pending lawsuit.
References
1. ‘U.S. distributor sues India’s…’ view
2. ‘Mahindra’s U.S. partner files…’ view
