Kenya: Toyota dealer to invest Sh572m in new facilities

Toyota dealer CFAO Motors Kenya Limited plans to invest $5 million (Sh572 million) in setting up a new showroom in Kisumu and a body shop in Nairobi.

The company says the works on the Kisumu branch, which will feature a new showroom, parts and service centre, will start on April 1. The construction is expected to be completed in one year.

The facility that will be located next to Mega City Mall along the busy Nairobi-Kisumu highway road will sit on a four-acre piece of land. The facility, which is expected to employ 70 workers directly, will serve the company’s customers in western Kenya including surrounding areas of Muhoroni, Siaya, Maseno as well as Kakamega.

“We are setting up a state-of-the-art branch in Kisumu so that we can offer better service to our clients around the Western Kenya region,” said Arvinder Reel, the managing director of CFAO Motors Kenya Limited in an interview.

“We actually have a branch in Kisumu but on rented space. We are therefore planning to vacate the space into our own premise once works on the project is complete.”

He said that part of the investment will also go into establishing a new vehicle body shop in Nairobi. The facility will undertake repair of vehicles and is expected to be up and running in October.

The firm already runs a body shop in Nairobi although it does not meet international standards.

“Making that investment in an election year tells you that we have the confidence in our business going forward,” said CFAO Motors Kenya chairman Dennis Awori.

The dealer is the biggest seller of new cars in the country, dealing in a variety of its namesake models including Land Cruiser, Fortuner and Rav 4.

Besides its namesake passenger car, vans and utility models, Toyota also sells Hino trucks.

The firm is among the formal dealers that recorded higher sales last year as the industry recovered from the depths plumbed in 2020 as a result of the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.

New motor vehicle dealers sold 14,250 units last year, marking a six-year high and a 29.8% rise from 10,977 units sold in 2020, according to data from the Kenya Motor Vehicle Industry Association (KMI).