De Tomaso is a truly international carmaker. It was founded by an Argentinian racing driver, it’s ostensibly based in Italy, and it’s owned by a Hong Kong-based group of investors. Now, it has announced the next leap in its geographical game of hopscotch will take it to America, and it brazenly claimed it will bring global glory back to our industry.
“We’re deeply committed to returning America’s automotive industry to its golden era of design, and to the treasured respect it earned between the 1920s and the 1960s,” De Tomaso explained in a statement, one which firms like Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus could reasonably disagree with. It added its main goal is to create opportunity rather than compete with established American carmakers. Not out of consideration for its peers in an economic landscape that looks like a minefield, but simply because it positions itself a cut above everyone else.
Executives have crafted a long-term strategic plan called Mission American Automotive Renaissance (AAR), which outlines the process De Tomaso will follow to relocate its core production, design and corporate facility to the United States. Where? It’s too early to say, because talks with several state governments are ongoing.
An announcement is expected in the next six months. Meanwhile, engineers are continuing to fine-tune the P72 (pictured) developed jointly with Roush and introduced in 2019. It will be the first De Tomaso of the 2020s, and it will be built largely by hand in the state the company ends up calling home starting in the fourth quarter of 2022.