Caetano Kenya, the new distributor for Ford Motor company in Kenya, is eyeing local production in 2024 in a bid to cut taxes on vehicle imports.
Importers of automobile into the country have been facing increased taxes as the state pushes for local vehicle assembly.
Caetano Kenya managing director Pedro Campos, says there are challenges with the taxes, which have made it hard for car dealers to forecast prompting the push for local assembly.
“Any abrupt changes in taxes is not good for us because it creates difficulties in the sourcing, logistics and prices. The taxes in Kenya are high but there are alternatives to the taxes we can do, that is local assembly which we are working on to make sure we can assemble in Kenya to reduce the taxes,” said Campos.
Caetano is the sole local distributor of Hyundai, Renault, Kia, Renault Trucks and Ford vehicles in the Kenyan market.
He added that the first assembly model will be ready in March next year but it won’t be a Ford assembly.
“We are also engaging Ford on local assembly since their sales reaction has been fantastic regarding the new models.The number of sales however is not representative because the first batch of Ford arrived two months ago,” added Campos
Industry data shows that new taxes saw new vehicle sales tumble 13 per cent in eight months to August, according to the latest sector data, showing the industry’s difficulties under the weight of tax-burdened consumers and a wobbly economy.
Campos was speaking after a new partnership between Ford and Caetano, that will offer the Ford brand an opportunity to gain market share in Kenya by leveraging on Caetano’s network in Kenya.
Caetano kicked off sales with the new generation models of the Ranger, Raptor, Everest, as well as the Ford transit bus.
Production of cars had slowed down globally in the wake of the disruption caused by the Covid-induced shocks, including shortage of semiconductors, which are a critical component in modern vehicles.
