Tata Motors has teased what it says will be its first product developed under the new passenger vehicles strategy and sub-brand Tamo that it unveiled today. Tamo will act as an incubating centre of innovation towards new technologies, business models and partnerships in order to define Tata Motors's future mobility solutions, which it calls 'FutuReady'.
The vehicle teased today will be premiered at the 87th Geneva international motor show on March 7. Internally known as the Futuro, this two-seater, mid-engined sportscar will be unveiled as a concept in Geneva.
Tamo, according to a statement released by Tata Motors, is "an agile, ring-fenced vertical operating in an incubating environment towards new technologies, business models and partnerships". The release adds that Tamo as a new, separate vertical will operate in the first step on a low-volume, low-investment model to provide fast-tracked proofs of technologies and concepts.
Produced from such a philosophy at Tamo, the teased Futuro will be positioned as a halo model and to give it exclusivity, Tata Motors will limit sales to around 250 units. The Futuro’s styling is believed to be a modern interpretation of the erstwhile Opel Speedster (or Vauxhall VX220) and, according to a Tata Motors source, will be "a stunning-looking car for the money". Tata Motors is working hard to achieve a sticker price of around Rs 25 lakh for the production version of the Futuro that is expected to go on sale by mid-2018.
Details of the Futuro aren’t clear yet. But company sources say that the Tamo sportscar will be powered by a turbocharged 1.2 Revotron engine boosted to develop 180hp. Whilst the power output in absolute terms is unimpressive, a target kerb weight of under 800kg will give the car a good power-to-weight ratio and hence, a decent performance.
Tata Motors engineers are working hard to keep the weight down and will use a mixture of composite plastics and aluminium to achieve this. Cost constraints have ruled out the use of carbon-fibre or any other exotic material. The Futuro has been completely designed in-house, but, according to sources, the chassis construction is by design legend Marcello Gandini.
This is not the first time Tata Motors has shown a sportscar concept. At the 2000 Geneva motor show, the Aria roadster concept was unveiled, followed by a coupé version in 2001. These concepts never translated into production cars and the Aria name was eventually given to the Tata MPV.
However, this time around, it seems Tata Motors is very serious about the Futuro, which it hopes to be a key model under the Tamo brand. The Tamo division's launch is part of a massive brand overhaul the company has embarked on to transform its image of being a carmaker of yesteryear to one that connects with tomorrow’s buyers.