Redesigned 2020 Mahindar Roxor is here for $16,999

Roxor has been duking it out with Fiat Chrysler over intellectual property issues tracing their roots back to 2009. The short story is that FCA believed the Mahindra Roxor too closely resembled the Jeep CJ-7. After a lengthy spell in court, last November the United States International Trade Commission agreed with FCA, administrative law judge Cameron Elliot ruling the Indian firm guilty of trademark infringement, and recommending a cease-and-desist order. Before the ITC finalized a ruling on the order, Mahindra has redesigned the 2020 Roxor with a new-look grille. The slats are gone, replaced with a mesh of rounded rectangles between two round headlights, all of it wrapped in a separate, protruding oval surround. The result is that the 2020 Roxor still looks like another vintage off-roader, just not a Jeep. 

The Roxor isn’t inexpensive, starting at $16,999 when equipped with a five-speed manual, and opting for the six-speed automatic taking the price to $19,598. It won’t compete with a UTV of an equivalent price if backwoods fun and muddin’ is the primary task. But for work, the Roxor can tow 3,490 pounds and comes with provisions for a power takeoff. A work-focused UTV like the Bobcat 3650 that offers a PTO starts at $25,786; its payload capacity outdoes the Roxor by 901 pounds, but its tow rating is 2,000 pounds. And when the workday’s finished, the faster Roxor will be more fun to play in than the Bobcat.

Another front in the legal battle is slated to begin in May 2020, but Mahindra must be hoping that this redesign shuts that down. If not, FCA will be “seeking an injunction to prohibit future sales of infringing vehicles, as well as disgorgement of Mahindra’s profits from the infringing Roxor,” so now’s probably a good time to kick the tires on a Roxor for anyone interested.