TVS Motors has filed a civil case in Madras High Court against Bajaj Auto for making a misleading claim about XL100’s fuel economy.
TVS Motors has claimed that dealers in Tamil Nadu have circulated false information comparing XL100’s fuel economy with Bajaj’s entry-level bike CT100.
The Madras High Court has granted TVS Motor a temporary injunction against Bajaj. The court has given Bajaj two weeks to file a detailed response and temporarily restrained it from continuing with its advertisements for that period.
As per the advertisement, XL100 gives a fuel economy figure which is less than 50% of what the CT100 extracts.
Bajaj said, its campaign comparing XL moped and CT100 was based on real-life mileage numbers taken from customers.
Eric Vas, President – Motorcycles, Bajaj Auto, said: “When the matter comes up, we will submit that the advertisements were neither disparaging nor denigrating TVS’ product(s) but were merely a reflection of the customer experience, as disclosed to us.”
In 2008, the two companies fought a legal battle over patent violation with Bajaj accusing TVS of copying its patented DTSi technology. That particular case ended in TVS favour in 2009.
