Feature
November-December issue l 2021
Future of the Automotive World in Kenya
C
hris Bangles once said that cars are sculptures of everyday lives and in the recent past this has been taking shape. The automotive industry in Kenya has witnessed a drastic progression in local car sales owing to the directive by President Uhuru Kenyatta issued in 2019 urging all government ministries to buy locally assembled cars in an attempt to propel the agenda of ‘Buy Kenya Build Kenya’ initiative. Under the Big 4 Economic Agenda led by President Kenyatta, the government last year set aside funds to purchase vehicles from local assemblers under the economic stimulus package. The automotive sector was among the eight (8) sectors selected for funding with Sh600 million budgeted. Statistics from the Kenya Motor Industry Association (KMI) cites an upswing of 31.5 per cent to 10,044 unit’s sales in the last nine months in which Isuzu East Africa, Toyota Kenya and Simba Corporation jointly sold 7,637 units a year earlier with commercial vehicles taking the biggest percentage of the sales. But as vital as controlling used-car imports is to nurturing a domestic industry, so is establishing a manufacturing base. The government, which identified the auto sector as a key driver of the country’s
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Africa Automotive News l 2021
industrialization policy had promised incentives to encourage the local industry by building special economic zones to benefit from tax holidays and low utility rates. Kenya Vehicles Assemblers (KVA), Associated Vehicle Assemblers (AVA) and General Motors EA are some of the already existing car assembly zone offering this services. “It is part of our government’s agenda to promote the philosophy of ‘Buy Kenya Build Kenya’ among our people, and all government entities,” stated President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Despite challenges ranging from imported used cars flooding the market, to the impact of Covid- 19 pandemic to the economy, the industry is still undeniably lucrative and set to sprout up across the continent. Recently, Isuzu East Africa unveiled its 100000th vehicle to be assembled at its Nairobi plant since its inception in 1977. Speaking at the launch, the Isuzu Managing Director, Rita Kavashe said that by the end of last year, the company was still leading as a local motor vehicle assembler with 45.4 percent of the total market.
