Jeep And Mahindra Are Meeting In Court Again! This Time The Issue IS The Wrangler SUV Similarities
by AutoExpert | 14 May, 2021
The issue surfaced when Mahindra put the Thar on an Australian website for those interested to buy it. This was the exact counterargument used by the Jeep lawers’ team when they stated in a court of not intending to sell their model in Australia. The declared non-intention was proved wrong when they brought clear evidence that just by entering several data, the potential customers would receive the clear message stating clearly their “enquiry on the all-new Mahindra Thar. As we get closer to launching this exciting new vehicle in Australia, we will communicate with you via this email address."
The 2021 Mahindra Thar registered its official debut in August 2020 and instantly the first rumors about the similarities to the Jeep Wrangler body look appeared. The same company has the right to sell the CJ Jeep Wrangler in India, but in Australia is a problem that got to the court.
Mahindra offers its Thar vehicle powered by two optional engines. The first one is the 2.0-liter gasoline engine which produces up to 150 horsepower while the optional 2.2-liter turbodiesel gives an output of 130 horsepower. Future owners can even choose between a six-speed manual transmission or a six-speed automatic and both come with a part-time four-wheel-drive system with a low-range transfer case.
Jeep and Mahindra are already familiar with the rules in court. In 2019, the American law stated in favor of Jeep when the Indian company trademarked the Roxor which also looked very much like a Jeep off-roader. For a limited time, the court later temporarily banned sales of the Roxor in the US. Still, the battle did not end there because the US International Trade Commission approved Mahindra’s design of the 2021 Roxor to go on sale in late 2020. So, Mahindra might’ve jumped too high this time. We’ll see how it’ll end this time.
