Well, who didn’t see that coming?
It appears that the second-gen Thar‘s unprecedented success (in India) motivated Mahindra to list the off-roader on its Australian website and also import a copy to begin testing on Australian roads, which made Jeep super insecure. Sounds familiar? Well, the American company has reportedly begun legal proceedings against Mahindra for alleged “intentional infringement of the intellectual property rights of our Jeep brand, specifically the Jeep Wrangler”.
A statement issued after a court hearing said that Jeep has requested Mahindra to “immediately cease and desist from all activities related to the import, distribution and sale of the Thar product in Australia”. The statement also added the following —
FCA will pursue all available avenues to stop Mahindra from continuing to make misleading and deceptive representations in relation to our Jeep brand, pass off their Thar as a Jeep Wrangler, and infringe our design rights.
Also, Jeep has asked Mahindra to provide at least 90 days written notice if it ever intends to launch the vehicle in Australia, for which, Mahindra reportedly proposed a 45-day notice period. Does that mean Mahindra still intends to sell the vehicle in the future? I don’t know. At the time of publishing this story, Mahindra’s Australian website no longer lists the Thar.
A report quotes a representative from Mahindra saying “Jeep was provided with a letter that informed them that Mahindra had no present intention to import and sell the Thar vehicle in Australia. Nevertheless, (Jeep) went ahead with commencing this proceeding”. While a camouflaged Thar was spotted on Australian roads testing, Mahindra representative defended saying “I’m instructed that no homologation process has been commenced”.
Well, for those who don’t know, the FCA-Roxor battle which took place in the U.S. between 2018-2020, resulted in the U.S. International Trade Commission blocking the Roxor sale in the U.S. As for this new Stellantis-Thar battle, well, it’s difficult to defend Mahindra in this case, for obvious reasons, despite the fact that the Thar is a great product. That said, you can’t help but chuckle at Jeep’s insecurity.
Source: caradvice
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