REELING from a federal court decision that has stymied the launch of one of its new products in Australia, Mahindra has outlined its future plans which deems Australia a key market and involves the launch of at least three new SUVs.

The decision to pull the ‘look-alike’ comes after Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Australia (FCA) took Mahindra & Mahindra (Mahindra) into the Australian federal court citing design similarities between its current Jeep Wrangler and the Thar 4WD.

On May 21, in order to avoid the need for a full-blown trial at this stage, the court accepted an undertaking from Mahindra to FCA that it would not launch the Thar in Australia without alerting FCA of its intentions, thereby reserving its right to have the argument in court at a time of its choosing.

In an exclusive interview with Mahindra’s CEO of Automotive, Veejay Nakra, GoAutoNews Premium is told the Mahindra Thar is in such heavy demand in its home market of India that it may not be available to the Australian market for about another year. However, he did not rule out its future in Australia.

“We have made a voluntary undertaking that currently we will not launch the Thar in Australia,” he said.

“We are currently unable to supply the Thar to meet even domestic demand, mainly because of the significant slowdown in production and the supply chain caused by the pandemic.

“For us, putting forward an argument (in the federal court) that would only extend the case made no sense when we are not ready right now to even launch the product in Australia.”

The Thar, which Mr Nakra said would be sold globally with a revised design to distinguish it from the Wrangler, could be one of three new Mahindra SUVs being planned for Australia.

The dispute between the Indian conglomerate Mahindra and FCA’s Jeep brand centred on a claim by FCA that the Indian company “intentionally” infringed the intellectual property rights of the Jeep “specifically the Jeep Wrangler” and notably, the vehicle’s seven-bar grille.

In the federal court, Mahindra agreed that it would not import the Thar into Australia unless it gave FCA notice, and so not infringe the property rights of FCA’s Jeep Wrangler.

The case was similar to a 2018 complaint in the US when FCA took action against the sale of the Mahindra Roxor, which looked very similar to a Jeep CJ 4WD.

Mahindra said the Roxor was modelled on the original Willys Jeep, of which Mahindra holds a licence granted for the Indian market by Jeep originator Willys in 1947. It also has a licence for the CJ range.

Mahindra modified the appearance of the Roxor and the 4×4 – which is assembled in the US by a Mahindra subsidiary – was allowed to be sold in the US.

Beyond the dispute over design similarities, Mahindra places Australia in high regard and is planning further models in its strong agricultural and automotive sectors. It currently has 38 automotive dealers and 44 agricultural machinery dealers in Australia.

Mr Nakra said that outside of India, Australia was “an extremely important market” for the brand’s products.

“For Australia, there is a full plan going forward, both for automotive and agricultural equipment,” he said.

“We have very limited company-owned offices in other markets.

“In Australia we have our own presence with a company office and our team on the ground, so clearly it’s a very important market for us and one that we have been in – with agricultural equipment and automotive – for about 15 years.”

Mr Nakra said the agricultural business was doing very well in Australia with about 12 products in the sub-100hp segment on the market.

“This is primarily the hobby and lifestyle farming segment. Many of our products are really, really viewed as being very attractive by the consumers in those niche markets,” he said.

The fly in Mahindra’s ointment at the moment is the ongoing effects of the coronavirus.

India is now in the grips of its second wave and Mr Nakar said it has gone to the roots of the community and taken hold in rural India.

“So it has disrupted the country’s manufacturing supply chain significantly,” he said.

“Even when factories open and the supply chain starts again, the availability of skilled labour has been eroded. That is why we are hesitant about giving an accurate timeline for future product launches.”

Mahindra also has its attention diverted by its exit plan from South Korean car-maker SsangYong, in which it had a 75 per cent shareholding.

Mr Nakar said the exit plan was underway but said there was still collaboration between the two companies.

“Partnerships are, historically, important in the automobile industry for springboarding in terms of technology, manufacturing, product and so on,” he said.

“We invested in SsangYong exactly for the purpose of technology collaboration, economies of scale, platform commonality and sourcing of components between India, Korea and other factors.

“A lot of benefits have been drawn from this partnership and a lot has gone into the technology and into the creation of many of our products.

“For example, there is a compact SUV that we have in India called the XUV300. We don’t have any plans to launch that in Australia, by the way, but it was created off the SsangYong Tivoli platform.

“We also did a lot of work together to create our whole new range of gasoline – in 1.2, 1.5 and 2.0-litre capacities – and diesel engines.

“We also launched the SsangYong Rexton in India as the Alturas. So, yes, I think we’ve done well with that collaboration.”

Mahindra & Mahindra is the automotive arm of the diversified Mahindra Group, which started in 1945. It is now the world’s biggest tractor manufacturer, has seven manufacturing facilities in India and assembly plants in further four countries, and three design centres.

It is one of India’s biggest vehicle manufacturers and in 2019, had revenue of about $A18 billion.

Its subsidiaries include Italian design studio Pininfarina, Peugeot motorcycles, the BSA Company and its reducing share in SsangYong.

By Neil Dowling