An Indian company has received long-awaited approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to import diesel pickup trucks into the United States, but whether an Atlanta-based company will distribute the vehicles remains unclear.

Global Vehicles U.S.A. Inc. had exclusive rights to import the pickups into the United States and signed up 350 dealers. The company in June sued the manufacturer, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., in federal court over repeated delays in delivering the trucks.

That lawsuit is still pending. Meanwhile, 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.

"We're ready to roll," Mark Butler, Global Vehicles vice president of marketing, told GlobalAtlanta on Monday. "Nothing has changed."

An EPA spokeswoman confirmed Monday that Mahindra's trucks meet the agency's emission requirements. 

In the lawsuit, Global Vehicles wants the U.S. court to require Mahindra to comply with the distributor agreement. It also seeks an injunction preventing the automaker from selling in the U.S. through another distributor or communicating with any of the dealers in the Global Vehicles network while the two companies are in arbitration.

Mahindra is part of The Mahindra Group, a $6 billion company and one of India's top conglomerates. Mahindra makes about half of the utility and light commercial vehicles sold in India, according to its website. 

The parent company isn't new to Georgia. Mahindra USA, its U.S.-based farm equipment subsidiary, announced Dec. 9 that it would close a tractor assembly plant in Calhoun, Ga., moving those operations to a new facility in Chattanooga, Tenn. At the same time, officials announced that the farm equipment unit's headquarters would move to Houston from Tomball, Texas.

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