While the Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra confirmed last week that that company has got certification from the US Environmental Protection Agency for its diesel pickup trucks, but the US plans of the company still have a long way to go before the products finally can be seen running in the market.

There is no denying to the fact that the company has cleared a major hurdle before it could launch these in the US market, but the lawsuit filed by a company that had earlier been contracted by Mahindra to be its distributor in the US still stands as a big hurdle for the company.

In fact, whether Mahindra can meet its latest target of bringing the trucks to the US by December is still a big question that many industry watchers have in their minds.

It may be noted here that the Georgia-based Global Vehicles USA was appointed the sole distributor in the US for Mahindra's pickup trucks under a 2006 contract.

However, the distributor sued the Indian company in a federal court in Georgia last month, seeking delivery of the vehicles, which it said had been postponed repeatedly. The Indian company counter sued the company asking the plea of the US based distributor to be dismissed.