Kenyan automobile assembly company Mobius Motors has announced it is going into liquidation. Mobius’s Director, Nicolas Guibert, issued a creditors’ voluntary insolvency notice on Monday, stating the decision was made following a stakeholder meeting earlier in the day.
Liquidation involves winding up a business and distributing its assets to claimants, occurring when a company is insolvent and cannot pay its debts. Guibert announced that KVSK Sastry has been appointed to oversee the liquidation process.
“At a meeting of the shareholders held on August 5, 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,” read the notice. He added that a list of creditors and proxy forms would be available for inspection on Friday, August 9, at Mobius’s head office at the Sameer Business Park in Nairobi.
During liquidation, the company’s remaining assets are used to pay creditors and shareholders based on the priority of their claims.
Mobius Motors was founded by British businessman Joel Jackson, and its first car was unveiled in 2014.
The compact SUV, Mobius I, received mixed reactions from Kenyans, with some criticizing its stripped-down look despite its Ksh.1.3 million price tag at the time. The automaker subsequently released the Mobius II and Mobius III models, which are more refined but still rugged SUVs priced at Ksh.1.5 million and Ksh 3.9 million, respectively, as of 2022.
Kenya’s car market is dominated by used imports from Japan, and the government has been striving to boost local vehicle assembly, attracting investments from global automakers such as Volkswagen. Despite these efforts, the sale of new vehicles in Kenya dropped by 15 percent last year.
Data from the Kenya Motor Industry Association showed that individuals and businesses purchased 11,370 units in 2023, down from 13,352 units sold in 2022. Dealers attributed the decline to high inflation and the depreciating shilling, which increased prices and production costs.
