Back in May, when Mahindra took over the Indian EV city car firm REVA, we reckoned that the much-maligned (by Top Gear) G-Whiz would soon be sold from Mahindra’s dealer network, which was being developed by Global Motors. But with Mahindra’s deal to sell its diesel pickups through GV’s US dealer net in tatters, it seems that plans to sell REVAs in the US has hit a stumbling block. Syracuse, New York-based Bannon Automotive had made a $26.5m investment in local REVA production, an investment that was underscored by $7m in state grants and the promise of $52m in federal loans. Now Bannon is suing Mahindra, alleging that the Indian firm has broken its contract for US-based REVA production. Bannon reps tell syracuse.com
This material change in the representations made by Reva and Mahindra signaled the death of Bannon Automotive. Unfortunately, Mahindra/Reva did not deliver as promised. Accordingly, Bannon and its investors have been compelled to take legal action. Bannon will continue to try and follow through with the project as planned. We remain committed to bringing an affordable, U.S. manufactured electric vehicle to the American marketplace
Bannon says the Mahindra has not yet issued a license to produce REVA vehicles, although Mahindra did warn that it would delay the rollout of the REVA NXR until 2011 in order to polish that product. After all, Bannon had signed a deal with REVA last October, but delays to the NXR’s rollout date only to Mahindra’s takeover of the firm. Mahindra insists that its reason for delaying the issuance of a license to Bannon is due to the fact that the NXR is “still a work in progress,” while Bannon simply notes that its communications with REVA has been sporadic. If the facts of the matter are correctly reflected in syracuse.com’s write-up, it would seem that Bannon is pushing Mahindra to give it a license to produce a vehicle that is not yet ready for production… that would seem to make Mahindra the more responsible party in this dispute.
Meanwhile, as far as those government incentives are concerned,
Robert Simpson, president and CEO of Syracuse-based CenterState Corporation for Economic Opportunity, said none of the government benefits were paid to the project because they were contingent on Bannon obtaining a license from Reva and the investment of Bannon’s own money into the assembly plant.
Mahindra may be in the right to delay production of a vehicle developed by a company that doesn’t have the greatest reputation, but in the context of the Global Vehicles fiasco, Mahindra risks hurting its own reputation by backing out of its second US-Market partnership. Though we’re less worried about not being able to buy REVA city cars than Mahindra’s rugged diesel pickups, Mahindra is certainly not winning many friends among American automotive enthusiasts.
Gah. Kill it! Send it to hell!
It’s always nice to get a “bailout” before you get started.
Styling by Dustbuster?
Are there really that many people who want to buy ugly overpriced Indian made junk ? These look like the second coming of the Yugo – no thanks !
No kidding. Those “investors” with $25M vested need to call me – I have Brooklyn Bridge on sale, great deal!
Mahindra seems to be burning bridges well before they even get to them… from what I’ve seen however, can’t say I’m going to miss any of their autos/minitrucks.
I don’t understand what’s going on over there. M&M will destroy the N/A market before they ever get over here. Between them and Tata it looks like any Indian cars in N/A is going to be stillborn.
It isn’t your grandfather’s Tucker Torpedo
While those aren’t as horrendously awful-looking as the classic G-Wiz, they come pretty close. I’m more disappointed a diesel pickup that weighs less than seven tons can’t be had in the U.S.
+1 on the lack of sub-freight train sized trucks with a diesel engine… I’d like to have a smallish TDI type crew cab truck.