[ron_9191]

I am surprised why Mahindra can't launch this in its home country. For sure I wouldn't take them to the court. This vehicle can easily fill the void left by the good old Maruti Gypsy.

[shankar.balan]

I believe the Roxor if launched in India would be a perfect utility beater vehicle for regular agricultural use. But I’m sure the reason why they aren’t launching it here is the cost factor. They wont be able to price it with a significant differential between it and the Thar and that will tend to cannibalise Thar sales.

If Mahindra have now lost the Roxor case in America, it is extremely possible that the FCA fellows will File a case here also in India. Because why should we kid ourselves. It is an indisputable fact that the present Mahindra Thar uses the 7 slat grille which is a Jeep Trademark. And looking at the new Thar Spy pics, it looks so heavily inspired by the Wrangler that one can comfortably say that it is a copy.

I dont think it is a good idea for Mahindra to sail so close to the wind on this. They are after all building their reputation in so many areas, so why should they spoil it in this way...

[SandyX]

Now everyone wants to 'relaunch' this vehicle in India. It's nothing but a dressed up Thar DI/M2dicr. When it was indeed available, everyone was goin ooh-aah for the flashier Thar crde, and the DI was relegated to an also-ran here. Indians had the chance at a simple beater and they know they blew it. Now that it regained its respect, we want in on the pie. Tough world ain't it?

[KMT]

The current Thar is a relic of a bygone era, its high time they bury it along with the current crde.

Ha ha, 'blew' a chance indeed, we have been fed on a staple of boleros, DIs, MMs etc for 20 or 30 years now. Mahindra is flourishing selling these antiques to us as we have no options. Anand Mahindra for all his savvy tweets has had no qualms in copying old engine and body designs for all these years.

I for one am pleased that the US has called out Mahindra for cheap plagiarism.

If they had some foresight they would have at least gone on for slightly different styling with the next gen Thar.

Now we are going to get another bolt on plastic piece in front with a different looking front facia.

[Reinhard]

This thing has really been quite sour between FCA & M&M over last few years now & its just getting worse. Its not staying contained on the Roxor design. A very reliable birdie has told me that this long drawn fight has resulted in FCA starting to keep out other Mahindra group companies in other large partnership deals. Huge IT engagements for example. That would be quite a large risk for the Mahindra group if true since their IT deals sure would be far more beneficial in the long run compared to the smallish Roxor sales numbers.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Wonder if this will have any impact on the upcoming Thar? FCA could file a case in India as well. Looks like a proper copy of the new Wrangler, as per the spy pictures.

I have had this question since the previous gen Thar infact. I had even asked it a couple of times elsewhere in the forum. Whether M&M had some sort of an indefinite license to continue building on the original CJ3 etc designs; and indeed that the new Thar is a proper copy rip-off of the Wrangler's design in a smaller shell. Never got a proper information about it anywhere. Didn't find any documentation/source anywhere to affirm that M&M has any sort of agreement to use the new Thar's Wrangler derived design.

[Revmatch99]

Originally Posted by KMT

The current Thar is a relic of a bygone era, its high time they bury it along with the current crde.

Ha ha, 'blew' a chance indeed, we have been fed on a staple of boleros, DIs, MMs etc for 20 or 30 years now. Mahindra is flourishing selling these antiques to us as we have no options. Anand Mahindra for all his savvy tweets has had no qualms in copying old engine and body designs for all these years.

Speak for yourself, 60% of India still lives in rural areas where the dependability and easy to work nature still makes these older 4WDs popular.

You say you're fed up of a proper no gimmicks, no nonsense off-roader? What do you want another car that's basically a hatchback on steroids like the Creta with a big screen on the dash? No thanks, anyways judging by the spy shots the new Thar seems to have a good blend of modern amenities while still sticking to it's rugged 4×4 roots.

It's funny you see guys in US crying for a nice simple basic 4×4 like the Thar and Roxor while guys in India want a modern gimmicks filled vehicle, I guess we all want things we can't have.

[KMT]

Well, I live on a farm and I have a Thar CRDe and a Scorpio 4x4 Getaway as daily drivers.

The Getaway is better engineered but still has rough rdges, the Thar on the other hand is pretty flimsy when put to slightly heavy use.
The oversquare engine and IFS linkage point in the chassis are the two weakest links in the chain. The body panels too are really thin compared to the old MM series.

Speaking of dependability, if the car stops due to an electric issue a laptop has to be brought all the way from Mysore each time to go through error codes.

I am sure you are having a better experience with your Thar Mr Revmatch99.

[GTO]

Guys, this is one time I am voting strongly AGAINST an Indian company. What Mahindra did was wrong, and I 100% agree with the order. We always blame the Chinese for being "copycats", what about Mahindra? This is a blatant copy of the iconic "Jeep" design, despite Mahindra arguing incessantly. In fact, such stupid moves give Indian companies a bad name (just like we associate China with copying / cheap goods).

[Sree]

Originally Posted by GTO

Guys, this is one time I am voting strongly AGAINST an Indian company. What Mahindra did was wrong

100% agree.
Would it be too controversial to say that our so-called multinationals including Pharma and IT are always looking at the easy way out and do not bring anything original or innovative to the table.
Only surprising thing here is that this was a brand-building exercise that was so carelessly done.

[Hayek]

I thought Mahindra still has a license to use The original Jeep designs in India. Hence, they are perfectly within their rights to make the Thar or the Roxor here.

However, it was foolish to take practically the same car to the USA - when you don’t have a license for that market, and without consent from the trademark owner. Leave aside the fact that the ITC is not really an unbiased observer.

I love Mahindra as an organisation - generally folks who are incredibly decent and reasonably capable. But this was a stupid move that got its well justified comeuppance

[Sutripta]

When it comes to the US, it seems that Mahindra is very poorly advised. One cannot but think of the Ranger competitor fiasco.

Sutripta

[romeomidhun]

With this, Mahindra's another American venture seems flopped - the Scorpio pickup first and this Roxor now. The dealers have to close now. And, if the import of parts also banned, the existing Roxor customers also will suffer.

[JagMan]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Why would FCA need to 'grasp at straws' in the US market when the Top-20 best sellers list contains four FCA products. Apart from Ram (which is the second best selling vehicle in the US) and the Wrangler - the Cherokee and Grand Cherokee are both in the list as well.

They stand to loose a lot more than Mahindra stands to gain at any rate, from what I gather. The roxor may be sold as a side by side but in some states a small fee will allow people to that that side by side on the streets. This would be a lot cheaper than buying an expensive Jeep for off-road uses for example. Or that's the view I've heard on the many YouTube roxor reviews I've seen from the US.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by volkman10

If that wasn’t enough bad news for Mahindra, FCA also told us it is pursuing a separate infringement case against the Roxor in the United States District Court of Eastern Michigan. In this case, FCA is “seeking an injunction to prohibit future sales of infringing vehicles, as well as disgorgement of Mahindra’s profits from the infringing Roxor.” A trial is scheduled to start in May of 2020.

Link

So it's not just about the grille? But the overall shape of the vehicle? Grille is easy to fix, which they were already doing I guess in the facelift. But altering the shape might prove too cost prohibitive for Mahindra. I guess they would abandon their US again.

[anjan_c2007]

Mahindra knows the stringent copyright laws of the US much better. Bajaj Auto advertised and sold Chetaks in the US markets in the 1970's and early 1980's.Advertisements on back and inner back cover of TIME magazine were common. Piaggio got injunction from an US court, that restrained sale of Chetaks in the US market, where Piaggio sold its products.

Mahindra has yet to get out from its hangover with the ancient Willys/Jeep CJ designs. Since it was aware of the stringent US market and the fallout from using the old American design cues in that market, it should not have ventured at all there with its Roxor. It owns Pininfarina and a full fledged design department in Tamil Nadu. A totally new platform and body design would have been ideal for the long term, for its Auburn Hill plant.

Such misadventures bring a bad name to Mahindra and in turn to India.