Fear and Loathing in Alpharetta

 

That deafening silence you hear is the sound of Mahindra and Global Vehicles making preparations for their upcoming arbitration in August.  The fate of some 350 franchised Mahindra dealers and the presence of Mahindra trucks in the US hang in the balance.  Maybe no news is good news, but then again, maybe some of the enthusiasm built up over the last 4 years has finally begun to fade.

Even a diehard Mahindrista has to admit that the chance of seeing Mahindra pickups on US roads in the near future is slim.  Publicly, Mahindra only speaks of their Ssangyong product line making it to America.  As time rolls on, more manufacturers appear to be closing in on the niche Mahindra intended to own just a few years ago.  Ford’s EcoBoost F-150, the global Chevy Colorado, Nissan’s development partnership with Cummins, a new compact Ram pickup, and continued talk of a Jeep pickup all begin to overlap the mid-size, high capacity, fuel-efficient, diesel pickup concept Mahindra has touted but failed to deliver.

Maybe Mahindra could change their angle of attack, and bring in a truly bare-bones, bargain-basement heavy duty pickup on the cheap.  There still may be an opportunity here for that.  Of course, they now have the additional task of repairing their reputation.  

Maybe Mahindra has served its intended purpose.  Mahindra has become a case study in how not to launch a vehicle in the US.  Lessons learned should enable them to make a better go at successfully launching Ssangyong here.  Has the wave has crested, retreated, or only begun to push ashore? We’ll find out in August...

“And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting—on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave ....
So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark —that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.” Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Sources: MP, PickupTrucks.com, and Wikipedia as hyperlinked

Mahindra Class Action Gains Momentum, Dealers File Complaints at State Level

A lawsuit initiated by St. Louis-based would-be Mahindra pickup dealer Jerry Ackerman, has piqued the interest of 45 other expectant dealers seeking refunds and punitive damages from Indian automaker, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (Mahindra) and US importer, Global Vehicles USA (GV).  Additionally, another 70 dealers recently met in Atlanta to discuss joint legal action directly against Mahindra & Mahindra.

Class Action Claim

As we reported in April, Ackerman and Automotive Leasing Corp. filed a federal class action claim against both Mahindra and GV.  The claim states that despite Ackerman’s requests, both Mahindra and GV have refused to release the money paid for three Mahindra franchises.  The class action lawsuit is open to any entity that entered into at least one Dealer Sales and Services Agreement and paid money for the right to sell Mahindra products and accessories.  The suit seeks actual and punitive damages for breach of contract.

According to Automotive News (via Autoblog), around 45 (of around 350) other dealers have shown interest in joining Ackerman’s class action claim.

State Grievances

Another 70 dealers met in Atlanta (GV is headquartered in nearby Alpharetta) Georgia last month to discuss taking legal action directly against Mahindra.  Global Vehicles has not responded to email requesting response on the Ackerman claim, but Mahindra Planet is surmising that they are the organizers of the Atlanta meeting and are possibly encouraging the dealers to organize and seek legal action against Mahindra directly.

The 70 Mahindra franchisees, lead by New Hampshire car dealer Joseph Yergeau, intend to file complaints against Mahindra directly with their state motor vehicle law enforcement agencies.  These dealers feel that Mahindra and its failure to deliver its over-promised compact diesel pickups lies solely with Mahindra itself.  Yergeau says, “Our beef is with Mahindra, not Global.  Mahindra refuses to to talk to us.  But at some point they are going to have to deal with their dealers.”

A Third Action

Since Mahindra claimed that its distribution agreement with GV was null and void back in August of 2010, GV has focused on litigation and an arbitration process to come to an accord with Mahindra and satisfy the empty-handed dealer network they began developing in 2008.  After being forced to drop their federal lawsuit directly against Mahindra in February, GV has focused entirely on the arbitration set to begin in August of this year. 

According to Automotive News, some dealers have been contributing to a legal defense fund in support of GV’s arbitration efforts.  After an arbitration decision is rendered, GV will once again have the option of filing another federal lawsuit against Mahindra if they choose to do so.

Resolution

With three separate actions occurring simultaneously: 1) federal class action, Dealers v. Mahindra and GV; 2) Dealers v. Mahindra, via state law enforcement; 3) GV v. Mahindra arbitration, a clear outcome and conclusive arrangement may not emerge for quite some time.

As an anonymous dealer on a dealer’s forum put it:

“In a nutshell, for my investment to be worth a plug nickel, Mahindra needs to do one of three things: 1) Give an absolute confirmation, "Global's Dealers are Mahindra's dealers regardless of the outcome of the Arbitration; or, 2) Global needs to win the Arbitration; Or, 3) Mahindra needs to buy either a majority interest in Global's stock (thus we become Mahindra's dealers) or buy out Global's Assets including all the franchise agreements (thus we become Mahindra's dealers).

Clearly, there is little here we dealers have contol over!
You're right--What a Mess!”

Source: Automotive News, via Autoblog

Opinion: Ram Ridgeline?

2002 Dodge M80 Concept

Back in 2002 Dodge came out with the M80 Concept.  The exercise was to see if there was demand for a fairly light, minimalist pickup design with styling and pricing that would appeal to a younger pickup (first time buyer) demographic, and those who just needed a basic pickup with decent hauling and towing capabilities and a very low target price (I think it was under $20k at the time).  I was all over it.  I wanted the M80 so badly with its retro-mini-PowerWagon styling, and I was a DaimlerChrysler employee at the time (discount!).  I even got to see the concept in person later that year and I was in love.  If they had built it, I would’ve been first on the list.  In my eyes the styling still looks fresh (even though they eventually slapped nearly the same nose on the Nitro) and I would still buy it today.  Stick a little Fiat diesel in it and its even better.

 If you read the comments on the PickupTrucks.com post on theRam Lifestyle Pickup (possibly similar to the 2006 Rampage Concept), there is a commenter (@paul810) who believes that the Ram Ridgeline/Rampage/Lifestyle (or Rampon as @pup cleverly named it) is purposely a softened up, unitized pickup so that it won’t compete with an expected Jeep small pickup (possibly a more rugged full-frame compact, and not the JK8 conversion).  I suppose that the Rampon has its place, but I am seriously hoping that the Jeep takes a lot of cues from the M80 and gives us something more along those lines.

For more on the Rampon: Report: Ram Lifestyle Pickup Truck On Track for 2012