Jeep and Mahindra recently became a part of a legal battle that ensued after Stellantis, the owner of the Jeep brand had approached the Federal Court of Australia against India’s Mahindra & Mahindra following a teaser ad posted by the company for the Thar SUV. The complaint was filed because apparently, the design of new Thar’s infringes the former’s Wrangler. Fiat had issued a statement alleging Mahindra is trying to ‘pass off their Thar as a Jeep Wrangler’.
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And now, Mahindra has made it clear that it had no plans to launch the current model of the Thar in the country. The company has also agreed to provide adequate notice to FCA if they had plans to do so.
Official statements
Mahindra recently released this statement confirming the same:
“We’re seeing very strong demand for the all-new Thar 2020 in India, therefore have no immediate plans for launch of the current variant of the Thar in markets outside India. As a result, it was pointless to engage in a litigation at this stage. When we decide to launch any new variant of the Thar in Australia, we will provide 90 days’ notice to FCA and take all steps to protect our rights to market and sell the product. This has no bearing on our future plans in Australia as we continue to pursue expansion of our business across a number of vehicle categories.”
Stellantis was quick enough to respond with another statement:
“FCA is pleased that Mahindra has conceded and undertaken that they will not import, market or sell the current Thar vehicle in Australia and will provide prior notice to FCA before bringing any future model or variant of the Thar into Australia. This outcome illustrates our commitment to protect the iconic trade dress and trademarks of the Jeep brand here and overseas and continue to engage the passion our customers and loyal Jeep community in Australia have for these iconic vehicles.”
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A test mule of the Thar has earlier been spotted in Australia, which was slated to be one of the first export markets for the off-roader. In fact, Mahindra Australia’s website even housed a ‘Register Your Interest’ page for the new Thar for a few months, but that has now been taken down.
Violation of intellectual property like this should be prohibited all over the world. Since Wrangler and Thar are both available in India, Mahindra should change the design of Thar in India as well.