The three month battle in court between Mahindra and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) has reached its conclusion. It may be remembered that FCA had dragged Mahindra to court over violation of intellectual property rights where it was alleged that Mahindra Roxor was an identical copy of the Jeep design.
Now, in a turn of events, the investigative staff appointed by US Trade Commission has banned FCA from pursuing the investigation any further as to if the Mahindra Roxor contains or uses their approved grille design.
FCA had alleged that the Roxor off roader was very similar to the Jeep Wrangler which is sold in UAS markets. The company stated that it was a copyright violation and hand hence moved court for a ban to be brought on the Mahindra Roxor from sale in the US markets. Mahindra, alleged that there was an agreement reached with FCA allowing it to sell vehicles in the United States with a different grille design as compared to what was seen on the Jeeps.
Besides being threatened by the design, FCA also alleged that the Mahindra Roxor imports would affect sales of the Jeep adversely due to its lower price. Mahindra gains an advantage in costs due to the fact that its products are produced in India and imported into US markets via CKD kits assembled in Detroit.
The ruling is now in favor of Mahindra and following this announcement, Mumbai based Mahindra will be allowed to import the Roxor off roader from India into the US markets where it will go on sale as a side by side off road vehicle.
To date, over 4,000 units of Mahindra Roxor have been sold in US while the company now targets sales of 4,500-5,000 units by the end of this financial year. The Roxor is an off-road, but not street legal SUV which was launched in US in March 2018. It is priced at $15,000 (Rs.10,49,475). It gets its power via a 2.5 liter, 4 cylinder diesel engine. Though based on the Mahindra Thar DI, its features have been modified to suit US market demands with no doors and no hard top roof and without any windscreen.