THE GOOD OIL
No sooner has Indian automotive giant Mahindra set up shop in the US, then its in trouble. No, not with the City of Detroit, who will be loving the fact the car, bus and tractor-maker has established its American base in the former epicentre of the American car industry. Rather, it’s Mahindra’s near-neighbours Chrysler who aren’t so keen on the new arrival.
More specifically, it’s Fiat Chrysler Automobile (FCA) which is ticked off with Mahindra. So much so, this week FCA sought to ban from sale Mahindra’s back-tobasics Roxor 4x4. Why? Er . . . if you haven’t clocked the image alongside this yet, take another look.
Yeah. That’s no old-school Jeep. That’s Mahindra’s Roxor.
But this isn’t a case of the sort of dodgy copyright law infringement that has motoring writers doubled-over laughing with surprise and delight at Chinese car shows, as yet another janky Land Rover or Lexus gets “reimagined” by an unknown local manufacturer.
Mahindra actually has a long history of assembling Willys-era Jeeps in India under licence, going back to the 1940s. In fact, Mahindra is proud of its Jeepshaped heritage. It even re-inked the agreement when Chrysler was bedmate with Daimler, back in 2009.
Thing is though, until now Mahindra has never sold its vehicles — the Roxor 4x4 included — in the United States.
According to Bloomberg, FCA has stated in a complaint lodged with the US International Trade Commission that the Mahindra Roxor infringes Jeep’s signature design.
“[The Roxor’s] boxy body shape with flat-appearing vertical sides and rear body ending at about the same height as the hood” is evidence it is “a nearly identical copy of the iconic Jeep design; in fact, the accused product was ‘modelled after the original Willys Jeep’,” the statement reads.
The statement also suggests FCA believes Mahindra is trading on the goodwill of Jeep in order to get ahead in the American market.
However, the Roxor can’t be road-registered in the US. So the idea that Fiat Chrysler’s customers are going to flee their Renegades in favour of the retro Roxor is stretching reality a tad.
Also, one of the man reasons Mahindra is making such a play of its Roxor in the US market, is that it’s hoping to snare the contract to provide the US Postal Service with the next-generation of minuscule mail cars.
A Roxor with airbags and stability control would be perfect for your average postie. And a perfect nightmare for FCA.