On Monday afternoon, Mobius Motors director Nicolas Guibert announced that the automaker is closing down after ten years of operation in Kenya, a move that has since elicited a response from the government.
In a statement on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, Principal Secretary, State Department for Investment Promotion in the Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry (MITI), Abubakar Hassan Abubakar revealed that the ministry visited Mobius Motors to ascertain reasons behind its proposed closure.
PS Abubakar noted that the Ministry together with the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) will explore avenues to help local companies navigate financing challenges.
“Upon noticing the proposed Voluntary winding up by Mobius Motors, together with CEO KAM, we visited the leadership of the company led by the Kenyan Director, Mr John to understand the causes of the winding up,” PS Abubakar stated.
“We explored corporate recovery, restructuring, and rescue mechanisms that can be exploited in such circumstances. Going forward, we are coming up with a program to assist such companies get strategic investors who are interested in distressed brownfield investment opportunities,” he added.
Mobius Motors issued a creditors’ voluntary insolvency notice on Monday, August 5, 2024. The automaker will thus liquidate and compensate claimants after failing to settle its debts.
Guibert also announced that Mobius Motors had appointed KVSK Sastry to steer the liquidation process.
“At a meeting of the shareholders held on 5-Aug-2024, it was resolved to place the company under liquidation as per Section 393(1) (b) of the Insolvency Act and to appoint KVSK Sastry as the liquidator to wind up the company,” the notice read in part.
Guibert further announced that the the automaker will issue a list of creditors and proxy forms on Friday, August 9 at Mobius’s head office at the Sameer Business Park in Nairobi.
During the liquidation process, the company’s assets will be sold off and paid to creditors and shareholders depending on the priority of their claims.
Mobius Motors was founded by British businessman Joel Jackson. The company designed, manufactured and sold vehicles built specifically for the African mass market.
The automaker launched its first vehicle, the Mobius I in 2014. It went for Ksh1.3 million at the time.
Mobius II was conceived by reimagining the vehicle, around the needs of the African consumer – common road terrain, typical vehicle loading and average income levels were important factors in the development of the vehicle. The result, an SUV with the durability required to handle rural roads, sold at Ksh1.5 million.
The subsequent Mobius III was launched in 2020 and cost Ksh3.9 million.
The sale of new vehicles in Kenya dipped 15 per cent last year. Data from the Kenya Motor Industry Association in July indicated that only 11,370 units were bought in 2023, down from 13,352 units in 2022.
Dealers attributed the drop to high inflation and the depreciating shilling, which shot up the prices of products as well as production costs.
