The Atlanta company that wants to sell Indian-made Mahindra pickup trucks in the United States claims in court documents that the automaker is interfering with its financing relationships with GMAC and Ford Credit.

Meanwhile, Mahindra is demanding that Global Vehicles Inc. stop using the Mahindra name in its marketing materials and on its website and "avoid falsely suggesting an affiliation between Mahindra and Global Vehicles." 

Global Vehicles had exclusive rights to distribute Mahindra pickups in the U.S. but Mahindra says that agreement expired on June 11. Global Vehicles, claiming it has spent $35 million to develop a dealer network, sued Mahindra in federal court in Atlanta on June 15, seeking to enforce the agreement and complaining about repeated delays in delivering the trucks.

Meanwhile, Mahindra has recently received long-awaited approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to import the trucks.

Global Vehicles and Mahindra are in arbitration, with the first session scheduled for Sept. 15 in London, according to court documents.

The federal lawsuit is still pending. Mahindra posted a brief press note on its website, claiming its relationship with Global Vehicles "has ended."

Global Vehicles claims the distribution agreement is still valid and that Mahindra's effort to cancel the deal is retaliation for filing the lawsuit. Global Vehicles says it will begin importing the pickups in December.

Global Vehicles is also seeking an injunction against Mahindra that would bar it from selling vehicles in the U.S. through any other distributor and from communicating with dealers that Global Vehicles has signed up, pending the outcome of the arbitration.

"Global Vehicles has learned of further conduct on the part of Mahindra that supports Global Vehicles’ request for a preliminary injunction, including but not limited to Mahindra’s interference with Global Vehicles’ financing relationships with GMAC and Ford Credit," Global Vehicles stated in a document filed Sept. 1.

A Mahindra spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment.

Mahindra, in court documents, has claimed the U.S. court has no jurisdiction over it since it does not sell vehicles in the United States.