Kenya is the economic, commercial, and logistical hub of the entire East African region and the most developed economy in Eastern Africa. Companies like Chery Automobile, Foton and Greatwall Motors set up shop in Nairobi to sell new vehicles bringing the battle to the door steps of the dominating companies like Toyota East Africa, Coopers Motors Corporation (CMC Motors), DT Dobie, Simba Colt Motors, Subaru Kenya, Mashariki Motors Limited and General Motors (GMEA). In 2011 Foton, set up a $50 million assembly plant of Fully completely Knocked down Units (CKD) in Nairobi’s industrial area bringing down the cost of importation of fully assembled units in to the country whereby import duty of fully assembled vehicles is 25% of the total value of the vehicle. The projected production capacity is 10, 000 units per year. Following the Foton’s plant setup, the Japanese motor vehicle giant Hino Motors in partnership with Toyota Tsusho Corporation setup an assembly plant in Mombasa to assemble the Hino product line.
