Responding to FCA’s legal action earlier this year, Mahindra made it very clear on Wednesday they plan to continue production of the Roxor.

Killjoy lawyers for FCA hit Mahindra with a complaint earlier this year about the Roxor off-road rig, carping that the Indian company’s UTV competitor – y’know, the one that’s not road-legal and does not compete directly with the Wrangler – was too close in physical design to the ageless Jeep.

Mahindra has said the grievance is “without merit”, pointing to a design agreement it had executed with Fiat back in 2009. Legal proceedings have apparently begun in a Michigan court to enforce that agreement, while also seeking an injunction against Fiat from proceeding with the original complaint.

In Mahindra’s filing, it was stated they rejected the notion that the Roxor was an imported low quality “knock-off” kit car. From the company’s public statement:

On August 23, 2018, Mahindra filed a complaint in Federal Court in Michigan on the issue of the applicability and enforcement of our 2009 agreement with Fiat. We are asking the court to block Fiat from participating in the ITC claim – an injunction – because of the fact that they agreed in 2009 to never bring such claims if we use a grille that they approved. The ROXOR uses that grille. We are also arguing that Fiat is using the ITC case to harm our ROXOR business by creating negative publicity, damaging our reputation and our stature in the marketplace.

They have a point, of course, since the company has been steadfastly maintaining a licensing agreement with the various owners of Jeep, stretching back several decades. In fact, the made a 1940s license agreement with Willys who, of course, built the original Jeep. Mahindra is said to have re-signed these agreements every time the Jeep brand has been sold to new interests.

The company has been busy entrenching itself into the local market, with Mahindra Automotive North America (MANA) inking an agreement with a Michigan charity to donate Roxor off-road machines as part of a program designed to assist in the recovery of returning veterans. They’ve also been engaged in supporting urban and sustainable farming in Detroit.

MANA is the North American headquarters of the $20B Mahindra Group’s automotive division. Established five years ago, MANA now employs over 400 people and claims to be the first automotive OEM to launch a manufacturing operation in SE Michigan in over 25 years when it began producing the Roxor off-road rig earlier this year in Auburn Hills.