Mahindra Deliberately Voided Contract for U.S. Distribution Says Importer

Rumors have been circulating for some time, but now Global Vehicles CEO John Perez has come out and said it – Mahindra delayed EPA certification of its TR series pickup so it could end the agreement with GV as the official US importer.

Perez says that the original contract between Mahindra and GV contained a sunset clause which stated that should the trucks not be be ready for sale in the U.S. within three years – people could just walk away and Mahindra would not be subjected to any lawsuits.

Now that clause has come to mean something slightly different: GV, having invested several million dollars up front to secure a distribution network for the trucks is now out in the cold and Mahindra is washing its hands clean, leaving angry customers and considerable uncertainty over the future of the pickups in the U.S. market.

At present, GV is in the midst of a lawsuit against Mahindra, over delays of the vehicle’s introduction – which stems back to a falling out between the two parties. Mahindra wanted GV to make adjustments to the original dealer program, but GV refused. Mahindra then essentially ceased communication with the U.S. importer and delayed the vehicle’s introduction, leading to GV filing a lawsuit.

Now, with Mahindra having voided GV’s contract and statements that it engineered that delay, things have gone from bad to worse. As a result, there appears to be no solution for importing the trucks to the U.S. at present and as the lawsuit is dragged through the U.S. legal system – those dealers that signed on wonder if they’ll ever get their trucks. Stay tuned for further developments.

[Source: PickupTrucks.com]