Mahindra has introduced the 2022 Roxor, which is currently headed to dealerships. While most companies talk about the countless changes to their “redesigned” vehicle, Mahindra said virtually nothing about the updates. However, they eventually admitted the “vehicle underneath is unchanged,” so this is effectively a facelift. Of course, there’s a good reason for their silence as the company has been fighting a lengthy battle with Jeep over the Roxor’s looks. To briefly summarize the situation, in 2019 Administrative Law Judge Cameron Elliot determined the Roxor infringed on Jeep’s trade dress.
Mahindra then presented an updated Roxor,
which ditched the slotted grille for one that recalled the Toyota Land Cruiser
FJ40. Shortly thereafter, the U.S. International Trade Commission sided with
Jeep and blocked sales of the Roxor in America. However, the ITC eventually
determined the updated Roxor was different enough not to infringe on Jeep’s
trade dress. That brings us to the 2022 Roxor, which sports a new and more
generic looking front end. As you can see, it features a single bar grille with
a mesh insert that is flanked by circular headlights, which have been moved to
the outside edges of the vehicle.
Moving further back, we can see a wider
hood and new front fenders that no longer look like they were lifted from a
Jeep CJ7. The rest of the model appears to largely carryover and it seems like
the vehicle was designed specifically to address Jeep’s complaints. Putting the
styling aside, the 2022 Roxor is available in open cab Base and enclosed cab
All-Weather configurations. Both feature a 2.5-liter turbodiesel engine that
develops 62 hp and 195 Nm of torque. It’s connected
to a five-speed manual transmission, which enables the four-wheeler to hit a
top speed of 88 km/h.
Pricing for the 2022 Roxor starts at US$ 18,899 for the Base and US$ 26,299 for the All-Weather. However, the latter seems
like a tough sell as you can get a street-legal 2021 Jeep Wrangler for US$ 30,665
including destination. Of course, the
Roxor is positioned as a side-by-side and competes with vehicles from Polaris,
Can-Am and Honda.
