Mahindra has been building a Jeep lookalike for many years now, offering it as Mahindra Roxor in North America. Because of the similarities with the Jeep, sales were restricted there, but that is about to change.
Mahindra announced in early 2018 that it was going to sell its Thar as Roxor in North America. As you can see immediately, the Roxor is an ‘own interpretation’ of the Jeep CJ, the civilian version that elaborates on the Willys Jeep of the American army, which was widely used in World War II. The similarities between the Roxor and the Jeep were just so obvious that Jeep’s parent company Fiat Chrysler put a stop to the market introduction. The vertical slots in the nose of the Roxor, in particular, would be a downright infringement of a Jeep patent.
The Mahindra Roxor before the adaptations
Mahindra did not give up and decided earlier this year to give the Roxor a small makeover. A very small adjustment, that is, because they only tackled the core of the problem: the grille. The Roxor got a nose with a kind of grille as a grille, instead of the characteristic slots. The International Trade Commission (ITC) has, according to Reuters decided that that ends the stocking. FCA’s claim is thus being dismissed and Mahindra is now given ample scope to launch this modified version in North America in 2021.
FCA’s claim was understandable, but somehow also a bit lackluster. That the much cheaper Roxor would end up in Jeep’s waters is not very likely. In the US, the Roxor is not street legal and purely intended for a fun affordable off-road experience on your own terrain. In addition, Mahindra simply has the license to base the Roxor technically on the primal Jeep. With the iconic Jeep grille, the company apparently went a bit too far, but that has now been resolved. Incidentally, the Roxors are assembled in the US, with kits manufactured by Mahindra in India. The top speed is electronically limited to 89 km / h. The Roxor has a five-speed manual transmission as standard, but there is also a six-speed automatic transmission on the options list. The starting price in the United States is € 14,980.
New Thar
The arrival of the modified Roxor in 2021 still causes some confusion. Mahindra has now presented the new generation of the Thar in India. As mentioned earlier, the Roxor is known in India as Thar, but for the time being the latest version is not yet coming to the US and is therefore a modified version of the old type. It is not yet known whether the new Thar will also enter the American market as Roxor.
The new Mahindra Thar
Techzle has asked the American importer for a response. At least one thing seems to be right with the new Thar; it looks like a Jeep again, but from the outset has a grille that does not resemble one from Jeep. Who knows, maybe the new Thar could eventually be brought to the US with less effort.