Apart from being a mid-engine sportscar from India, the Racemo which was unveiled at the Geneva motor show made heads turn with its MOFlex Multi-Material Sandwich (MMS) structure. Thanks to this modular system – patented by Marcello Gandini and later bought over by Tata – the entire car could be constructed from just a handful of larger basic modules instead of the hundreds of small components that typically make a regular car.
While MoFlex is a patented technology, the basic idea is not really new. It is a lot like the kit car concept, where an entire automobile is put together from a pre-set parts and component kit. And like a giant Lego set, the kits are shipped out to dealers or even individual customers who put together the entire car themselves. Kit cars are present in various markets overseas and are quite popular in the UK, and with the Racemo, India will receive its first commercially available kit car.
Speaking to Autocar India at the 2017 Geneva motor show, Guenter Butschek, CEO of Tata Motors confirmed that the Racemo will indeed be built at workshop setups around the country and not necessarily from a large central factory; a hint of this being the ‘Made in Mumbai’ decal that the show car sported. Elaborating further, Butschek said that dealers, except those willing to scale up to this operation model, won't be retailing this car. This means Tata could also look into owning the retail experience.
Interestingly, the idea of shipping out kits to be assembled isn’t new to Tata Motors either. Ratan Tata, the erstwhile chairman of Tata, envisioned this model for the Nano during its conceptualisation, where kits could be shipped out to dealers and independent businesses to be assembled and sold as a 'Tata' or as their own brand. Now with the Racemo, it looks like Ratan Tata’s vision could be close to fruition.