[A myth]

I think this is a step in the right direction for TATA. Irrespective of how successful it will be, its always good for an OEM to have a niche or exotic product in their portfolio. They should seriously look at putting this car on the domestic sporting circuit.

[kovilkalai]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

Which company in India moved beyond this kind of design? Maruti/Mahindra/Hyundai/Honda/VW?

I didn't realize that Tata only competes with Mahindra and Hindustan Motors. Have you seen the Honda NSX? I know it is not sold in India. If you are looking for cars that are sold in India, how about the R8. I would venture to say that the DC Avanti has a better design than this car.

At the end of the day, if you want to compete at a global stage, you have to start making cars that are noticed by the world. Tata isn't quite in the same bucket as a Mahindra. They own JLR and the resources that come with it. Any company that has the F-Type in its garage can certainly come up with a better design.

[RavenAvi]

When launched, the Tamo Racemo sports car will be India's first commercially available kit car - the entire vehicle is formed from a kit comprising of pre-set parts and components.

Such kits are shipped directly to dealers, or even individual customers, for them to assemble the car together from the kits.

This flexibility comes from the Racemo's MOFlex Multi-Material Sandwich (MMS) structure - a modular system through which the entire car could be constructed from just a few larger basic modules, instead of hundreds of small components that typically make a regular vehicle.

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.

ACI

[prakash_ajp]

Originally Posted by kovilkalai

At the end of the day, if you want to compete at a global stage, you have to start making cars that are noticed by the world. Tata isn't quite in the same bucket as a Mahindra. They own JLR and the resources that come with it. Any company that has the F-Type in its garage can certainly come up with a better design.

Well, nobody stopped M&M from buying JLR, right? This is not how companies are run. You will continue to see premium products from JLR and bonus for them and us is that some of the knowledge and expertise flow into Tata vehicles as well.

Let's just say that Tata come up with a product like R8 or whatever fancies you and prices it well, let's just say half the price of R8, are you going to buy one? Will you even recommend one to anyone? No, I am very sure you will say, "who will pay so much for a Tata product".

BTW, design is very much subjective and looks like many people here in this forum seem to like it, including me.

[theexperthand]

Originally Posted by kovilkalai

At the end of the day, if you want to compete at a global stage, you have to start making cars that are noticed by the world.

Please take a look at this thread - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...rtnership.html

Tata have come up with a modular platform (AMP) which did impress global players and made VW sign an MoU to use it for making cars under the badges of VW and Skoda.

Personally, I like the Racemo design and Tata have added few crowd pulling features like scissor doors and automatic (This is a market where even a Reva is marketed as an automatic ), which will be a hit in India.

Since they are going the kit car way, I hope a manual GB will be given as option to those few who loves to drive the stick.

--Anoop

[kovilkalai]

Originally Posted by prakash_ajp

Well, nobody stopped M&M from buying JLR, right? This is not how companies are run. You will continue to see premium products from JLR and bonus for them and us is that some of the knowledge and expertise flow into Tata vehicles as well.

Let's just say that Tata come up with a product like R8 or whatever fancies you and prices it well, let's just say half the price of R8, are you going to buy one? Will you even recommend one to anyone? No, I am very sure you will say, "who will pay so much for a Tata product".

BTW, design is very much subjective and looks like many people here in this forum seem to like it, including me.

Thats precisely the point... Design is subjective (although there are elements that are objective, such as drag, usable space etc.). So, why would you (or anyone) take offense to someone saying that this design feels dated. Do you want everyone to agree with you?

I will correct your opinion on one thing... I am not a brand snob. I am a value snob. I do come from a family of loyal Tata car buyers and I currently own an XUV500. I DO like some of Tata's designs a lot - Tiago and Nexon. I got to see Nexon up close at the Auto show last year and I LOVED it. If there is a Tata car out there that I like and find value in, I will buy it. I am trying to figure out why you made this leap of judgment based on what I said about the design.

Lastly, if you are Tata and you own a company that does have technology that you can leverage for the mass market, why won't you? Tata borrowed some of LR's ride, handling and offroad expertise for the Hexa. Now, why not borrow some more of that? And... well-run companies DO work this way. Please check out the level of sharing between Ssangyong and M&M. Expertise and part sharing also contribute to lower costs - check out the use of engines and platforms across VW, Skoda, SEAT and Audi. Skoda and SEAT were acquired by VW decades back and they were terrible brands. Now their brand value is pretty good.

Originally Posted by theexperthand

Please take a look at this thread - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...rtnership.html

Tata have come up with a modular platform (AMP) which did impress global players and made VW sign an MoU to use it for making cars under the badges of VW and Skoda.

Personally, I like the Racemo design and Tata have added few crowd pulling features like scissor doors and automatic (This is a market where even a Reva is marketed as an automatic ), which will be a hit in India.

Since they are going the kit car way, I hope a manual GB will be given as option to those few who loves to drive the stick.

--Anoop

I am not suggesting that Tata is ill-equipped to compete in the global stage. Far from it. Making a car like Tiago for under 4L at the scale they are going to sell is a big deal. That is in fact what VW needs in emerging markets. If you observe Hyundai's slow road to global prominence, they didn't start with fancy stuff, they started with getting the practical stuff right.

My critical comments were restricted to THIS car. It is perfectly possible for two people to look at a car and come away with different opinions. I feel this car design looks too busy and there could be some performance shortcomings on account of the design.

Cars like the Tiago and Nexon are far more contemporary and even market-beating than this one.

Took me a while to understand the Reva point. Good one!

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by kovilkalai

At the end of the day, if you want to compete at a global stage, you have to start making cars that are noticed by the world. Tata isn't quite in the same bucket as a Mahindra. They own JLR and the resources that come with it. Any company that has the F-Type in its garage can certainly come up with a better design.

If only mahindra had access to a large, international design firm, preferably in italy, with a huge pedigree of designing, engineering and building legendary sports cars, like pininfarina to help it pull off a low volume sports car concept!

[kovilkalai]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

If only mahindra had access to a large, international design firm, preferably in italy, with a huge pedigree of designing, engineering and building legendary sports cars, like pininfarina to help it pull off a low volume sports car concept!

Good point! I forgot about that. I guess my comparison falls flat. I suppose, it is enough to say that Tata Motors has similar resources, if not better, than M&M.

I still don't get why my dislike of this design is being construed as some kind of hatred from Indian brands.

[prakash_ajp]

I commented some time back (I think at the time of Zest release) that Tata certainly had the resources to pull itself from the debacle. They had the cash and they had a network second only to Maruti. It was only a question of resolve. At the moment, they are proving it that they have it in them.

In the passenger car segment, to be precise, mass market segment, they are doing all the right things by coming up with attractive products at a very good price. Many would think that would have been enough. But with the Tamo, they are being proactive and appear determined to change the brand perception. Racemo is not a mass market car and certainly not going to bring Tata any significant money. It need not please everyone. All it needs to do is, find 250 new homes and some (computer) wall papers.

For instance, I think this is very cool: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attach...0.cce818fd.jpg

[RJ411]

Any thread that starts with Tata in its name gets a lot of bashings and beatings. This is for some reasons which is present in products from other manufacturers as well (And comfortably fogotten there..!)

Every body know its a halo product and not a mass-market car. I beleive TAMO RACEMO is bascially developed to showcase the capabilities of TATA's skill sets.

Same is the case for the concept that Mahindra showcased in India Auto Expo something like an X6 replica. And now they are also getting ready for sports car / electric car as its evident in the news and other threads in our fourm.

IMHO both the desi companies are going in right direction which is good for our Auto industry.

[Karthik Chandra]

RACEMO first look by PowerDrift & ACI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAk0IYSsPnk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX9Ygxilbd8

[sahibrain]

I happened to read this article on overdrive on RaceMo. A very good article, pasting an extract below (highlights by me) :

Marching through the halls of the Geneva Motor Show I met David Richards, the former chairman of Aston Martin and team principal of BAR and Benetton Formula One motor racing teams. David is passionate about cars in a way few are, and he also loves India and all things Indian. In a flash, I just knew I had to ask him what he thought about the Racemo. And his succinct reply shook me to the core, “It reminds me of Mazda, and the MX-5.”


http://overdrive.in/opinions/the-rac...allsy-project/

[timuseravan]

I think its a fantastic opportunity being grabbed by Tata. Tata is improving their image in the eyes of general population. Aria was launched in 2010 and the reaction of most people was: who would pay so much for a Tata? But today its a completely changed perception for Hexa.
I think the parallel can be drawn to RE a decade back. Price wise RE was (and is?) in aspirational zone. No one (not even RE) expected to sell so many motorcycles which were priced at more than 1 lakh. And yet they continue to have a wait period of months.
The income levels and spending capacity of the population is steadily increasing year on year. I think a sports car at 30 lakh price point will get a lot of buyers.

[drmohitg]

Interesting concept. Interesting step. But the choice of the engine surprises me a bit. As a nation, have we evolved enough to invest 25L on a car which sports a 1200 cc 3 cylinder engine? Why shouldn't I just buy a BMW at that price ( a sparingly used 320d making 184 BHP will be easily available at that price). It brings with itself the added advantage of a luxury badge, is a time tested product, seats 4 easily and is possibly (?) more aspirational than a 25L Rs Tata car, regardless of that sports car design.

I fear that just like no one wanted to be seen with the most cheap car, Nano (in terms of price), similarly no one would want to be associated with the cheapest sports car. Tata has been coming out with some good products off late but still is fighting out years of bad brand image that it had created for itself. As a result, a competent car like Zest struggles to sell more than what it is already doing. The same brand image might not appeal to customers who want to flaunt a sports car.

[vaibzi]

I was at the Geneva Auto Show yesterday and got to see the Racemo first hand and interact with the product engineer present there. The product engineer was really happy to show me around the car and told me that it would probably cost around 25L INR when it launches later this year.

I was proud to see TATA trying something different by unveiling this sports car and creating a buzz around it. The car in itself felt really sporty looks wise and you feel cocooned inside the driver seat and I felt great holding the steering and getting a general feel for the car.

I will let some pictures do the talking