MAHINDRA CONFIRMS IT HAS "NO DATE" FOR U.S. LAUNCH OF COMPACT PICKUP TRUCK

MAHINDRA CONFIRMS IT HAS "NO DATE" FOR U.S. LAUNCH OF COMPACT PICKUP TRUCK

By Drew Johnson

Mahindra & Mahindra assured Leftlane back in the summer of 2008 that its compact pickup truck was right on schedule for its United States launch, but that guarantee has apparently turned belly up.

Following a number of subsequent delays, a squabble between Mahindra and its U.S. distributor – Global Vehicles USA – has indefinitely put the Indian automaker’s U.S. plans on hold. Mahindra was originally slated to begin U.S. sales of a compact pickup truck in mid-2009.

Global Vehicles USA recently filed a lawsuit against Mahindra, claiming the Indian automaker unlawfully terminated its U.S. distribution agreement. “The bottom line here is Mahindra now believes this is a huge project. They want us out of the way so they can go direct and save the money we were going to make,” Global Vehicles chief executive John Perez said.

As a result of the lawsuit, Mahindra now says it has “no date” for the U.S. launch of its pickup, so it’s safe to scratch the automakers most recently announced December launch date from your calendar. It remains unknown if Mahindra’s pickup ever passed U.S. crash and emission regulations.

Despite the setback, Mahindra says it is still interested in the United States market. “We’re still interested in getting into the U.S.,” the company said in a statement. However, given Mahindra’s mountain of unrealized release dates, we don’t expect to see the company’s compact pickup truck on our shores anytime soon.

link:

http://www.leftlanenews.com/mahindra-confirms-it-has-no-date-for-u-s-launch-of-compact-pickup-truck.html