According to GlobalAtlanta.com, Indian conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra Limited has countered a lawsuit filed against them by US-based vehicle importer, Global Vehicles USA, Inc. On June 28th, Mahindra filed a request for dismissal of the lawsuit.
Georgia based Global Vehicles (GV) is the exclusive importer for a yet-to-be launched line of India-made Mahindra pickup trucks. On June 14th, GV filed a lawsuit in US district court against Mahindra for USD $35 million, claiming that Mahindra has repeatedly and purposely delayed the release of their US line of 30 mpg, diesel-powered pickup trucks.
Since news of GV’s lawsuit first broke, Mahindra & Mahindra’s vice chairman and managing director, Anand Mahindra, has publicly stated that the grounds of the lawsuit are baseless. It appears that this request for dismissal backs up those statements.
Mahindra is claiming that the dispute should be resolved in arbitration, not in a US federal court. Mahindra calls into question the jurisdiction of any US court over the Indian company’s agreement with GV. The filing also claims that Mahindra has not been properly served by Global Vehicles who has submitted paperwork to a US Mahindra subsidiary, and not directly to Mahindra in India.
Despite legal posturing by both parties, it appears that Mahindra still has not obtained EPA certifications for the US-bound pickups, nor have they formally registered trademark protection for the Mahindra TR20 and Mahindra TR40 names. The request for dismissal of the lawsuit does not address accusations of purposeful delivery delays claimed by GV, but does suggest that Mahindra would prefer to negotiate with Global Vehicles behind closed doors instead of in the public realm.
Stay tuned.
Source: GlobalAtlanta
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