Could this be India’s Miata?

Tata Motors will unveil their upcoming sportscar under the TAMO sub-brand at Geneva this month

THE ENERGY CRISIS AROUND the world has left the automobile industry in search for alternatives to fossil fuels, with electrification emerging as a good solution. In a bid to keep pace with global trends, Tata Motors have launched TAMO, a sub-brand which would adhere to their new philosophy of ‘FutuReady’. TAMO, short for Tata Mobility solutions, will offer low investment low volume products that will act as a stepping stone to high volume future products of Tata Motors as well as enrich the brand with desirable cars.

Cars these days come with downsized engines that deliver similar performance levels to larger naturally aspirated engines with the help of turbocharging. There’s also a possibility of hybridisation now and Tata Motors recognises this trend. TAMO will be the driving force for newer ideas to flow through the company’s models. With that being said, Tata’s CEO Guenter Butschek announced that the first car to be launched under the TAMO sub-brand will be showcased at the 87th Geneva Motor Show on March 7 and then went on to display a covered concept that shows the silhouette of the car (as seen in the picture above).

Going by this silhouette, Tata’s first TAMO product will be a two-seater sportscar. This will be the first product by Tata to enter the niche world of small budget sportscars, and bring the kind of excitement into its brand, like the Miata brought Mazda. Especially with the acquisition of Jaguar as well as the setting up of design centres across the world, Tata could pull this off in style with the TAMO car. All eyes are now set on their unveiling in Geneva since TAMO has the potential to spearhead Tata’s operations in developed markets such as Europe and North America. It may very well just go down the hybrid path.

Another key development from the TAMO initiative has been their alliance with Microsoft to enhance in-car connectivity and perhaps gain the necessary tools to develop an autonomous vehicle, making it a giant leap for an Indian car manufacturer.

Tata also announced that they will be building two new vehicle platforms upon which their future products will be based. The first one, called the Advanced Modular Platform (AMP), will see their existing products trickle down to operate on to one common platform. The modular platform will allow upto six different vehicular body shells to have the same underpinnings to make it a hatchback, a sedan, a crossover, an MPV or an SUV. Tata Motors is yet to share light on its second platform.