As reported earlier by us, the American motorcycle manufacturer, UM Motorcycles has stopped its Indian operations altogether amidst the economic slowdown faced by the Indian auto industry.
With a joint partnership with Lohia Motors India, UM promised to introduce a new range of motorcycles by the end of the year 2019 though, the brand has failed to do so.
Now, the reports suggest that FADA (Federation of Automobile Dealers Association), the apex automobile dealer body in India has finally taken the case for the UM dealerships and has sent a legal notice to the management of UM Lohia Two-Wheelers Pvt Ltd.
According to the reports, the legal notice has ordered the management to handle the grievances being faced by the UM dealerships due to unannounced closing of the brand’s operations while at the same time ensure maintenance and servicing of motorcycles already sold to the customers according to proper laws and regulations.
The brand has closed the production and assembly back in October 2018 while not giving much heed to the 80 dealerships who have invested around INR 150 crores for the brand’s Indian presence.
Commenting on issuing the legal notice to UM Lohia, FADA stated – “the dealers are aggrieved by the dishonesty and fraud on part of the management and promoters of UM Lohia, including founders Ayush Kumar Lohia and Jose Miguel Villegas. The statement also mentions how UM dealers are facing “huge losses” and “unwarranted litigation from customers of UM Motorcycles.”
Quitting the partnership with UM Motorcycles, Amit Lohia of Lohia Group commented that the motorcycle brand was not able to invest money in India, which caused them to quit the partnership treaty as well as stop the production of UM Motorcycles at the Kashipur plant in Uttarakhand.
According to FADA, if UM Lohia fails to address the legal issues, the association will be forced to take legal action against the company as well as the entire management.
