#GlobalVehicles

We’ve been hearing rumors of a new “global” B-segment crossover from Ford for some time. Now, the Blue Oval has officially revealed details on its latest EcoSport, unveiled at the 2012 New Delhi Auto Expo this week.

Yet another bump on the increasingly rough road for the Mahindra pickup has emerged,this time in the form of fuel economy figures published by the Environmental Protection Agency.

In yet another development of the Global Vehicles USA/Mahindra Pickup saga, Global’s CEO John Perez is adamant that the small, diesel engined pickups will be available to U.S. buyers by spring 2011.

Will it ever end? Hot on the heels of the announcement by Global Vehicles that it had placed a $35 million order for U.S. spec Mahindra Pik-Ups; Mahindra has now issued a statement declaring the order ‘invalid’ and accusing Global Vehicles of theatrics and working hard at attempts to damage its reputation in the U.S.

Mahindra is also sticking fast to its claims that the contract between it and Global has expired and it is free to pursue its own channels of distribution for the trucks in the U.S. In fact, P. N. Shah, Chief Executive of Mahindra’s International Division; Farm & Automotive, stated that;  “Mahindra’s goal remains to bring its vehicles to the U.S. market, satisfying the desires of U.S. consumers and dealers alike.” Quite how they’re going to do that remains to be seen. The saga continues…

Official press release after the jump:

In the latest installment of the Mahindra/Global Vehicles Soap Opera, it appears that the first order for U.S. spec trucks, now called Pik-Ups has been placed, according to a statement released by GV.

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.

What’s next? Well, in the ongoing saga of Mahindra’s supposedly U.S. bound pickup, who knows? The latest is an apparent termination of the agreement between the Indian vehicle maker and Global Vehicles Inc., the company it had tasked with importing its HR series two and four-door pickups to the US.  According to an official press release on Mahindra’s US website “the agreement dated 26th September 2006, between Mahindra and GV” has been “terminated.”

In what seems to be a never ending saga, it appears there might finally be some significant developments as it relates to Mahindra’s U.S. bound small pickup. According to some sources; the Environmental Protection Agency has finally given Mahindra the emissions certification required to sell its diesel engined TR series pickup Stateside for the 2011 model year.

Well it ever get here? Based on the latest scuttlebutt regarding the U.S. launch of Mahindra’s compact pickup, it’s looking less likely with each passing day. Global Vehicles USA, the licensed distributor for Mahindra vehicles in this country has filed a lawsuit against the Indian manufacturer for repeated delays in bring the trucks over, which is costing Global a pretty penny, since GV has already signed up approximately 350 dealers and spent nearly $35 million in preparation for launching the Mahindra pickup Stateside.