Mumbai:
The slick British sports car, Aston Martin, known for being featured in James Bond flicks among other things, has already come in contact with a fair amount of friction even before hitting the city's roads.
The luxury auto manufacturer's dealer in Mumbai, Infinity Cars, had got Adnan Sami on board to unveil the car at its launch tomorrow.
But it pulled out of the agreement with the city-based Pakistani singer, 'abruptly' and allegedly without informing him.
So when he went to deposit his cheque of Rs 13.5 lakh yesterday, he was turned away from the bank, with the explanation that the firm had stopped the cheque's payment.
The car manufacturer is set to launch its product in India on April 15. The first showroom is set to open in Mumbai this weekend.
The high-end brand's dealer had struck a deal with Sami to the tune of a few crores. But after it stopped the very first payment, citing that it withdrew from the covenant, an irked Sami is perusing legal options, according to his lawyer.
According to Sami's lawyer, Vibhav Krishnan, the company had signed a contract with the actor to unveil the car on April 15 in the city.
He said, "They had issued a cheque of Rs 13.5 lakh. But when the cheque was deposited, it came to light that the firm already stopped the payment. This is totally unprofessional, as the singer is already in an agreement with them. They did not even intimate him. Now, we will go about it through legal channels."
Krishnan added, "My client has other obligations, but he had to honour the agreement and participate in the launch. And now we come to know that the payment has been stopped."
On their part, officials from Infinity Cars, maintain that they had revoked the agreement, and that they have nothing to say beyond that.
They added that the launch will take place on April 15, as scheduled.
Lalit Chaudhary, the official from Infinity in charge of performance cars, had spoken to Sami and clinched the deal. He was the one who had issued the cheque to the singer on March 29.
"The launch will take place even without Sami's participation," said Lalit Chaudhary, an official from Infinity Cars.
Aston Martin is set to offer its full range in India, which will include the Vantage, Rapide, DB9 and DBS. The brand's India operations begin with partners Infinity Motors, which presently has the BMW dealership in Mumbai and Indore. The price for different models of the car will range between Rs 1.3 and 2.9 crore.
"We had cancelled the deal long back. Hence, we had even stopped the payment. It is our private matter and we do not want to comment on it," Chaudhary said.