The Cooper Motor Corporation, also known as CMC Motors Group Limited, is the fifth-largest importer of vehicles and fifth-largest car-assembly company in Kenya, the largest economy in the East African Community.

Location

The company headquarters are located between Lusaka Road and Bunyala Road in the Industrial Area of Nairobi, the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

of Kenya and the largest city in that country. The manufacturing unit and vehicle assembly plants are on Bunyala Road, while the showrooms are on Lusaka Road. Workshop Road connects the two locations. The coordinates of the company headquarters are:1°17'57.0"S, 36°49'39.0"E (Latitude:-1.299167; Longitude:36.827500).

History

CMC was founded in 1912 by Clement Hirtzel under the name Nairobi Motor Garage, in Nairobi the capital of what was at that time known as British East Africa. The company started its activities with the importation of the

Ford Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relati ...

. Nairobi Motor Garage was the first company that distributed vehicles in British East Africa, which today is known as the Republic of Kenya. With the initial sales of the Ford Model T, NMG took up 52% market share of automobile sales in Kenya at that time. In July 1948, the company was bought by one ''Mr. Allen'' and another ''Mr. Cooper'', who had relocated from the United Kingdom to Nairobi. The company's name was changed to ''Cooper Motor Corporation Private Limited'', to reflect the new ownership. New products were introduced including the Land Rover, which was a success in a lot of African markets. Over the decades, the company has developed into a major importer for several different brands. CMC has maintained a relationship with Ford Motor Company and have sold a variety of pick-up trucks and van models from the American vehicle manufacturer. Over the years, the company introduced other brands like Volkswagen, Mazda, Škoda,

Maruti Māruti can refer to: * Maruti (मारुति), a Sanskrit name referring to Hanuman, son of the Hindu wind god, Pawan Dev * Maruti Suzuki, a joint sector industry of The Indian Government and Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corporation Se ...

Suzuki is a Japan, Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, All-terrain vehicle, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs ...

Iveco IVECO, an acronym for Industrial Vehicles Corporation, is an Italian multinational transport vehicle manufacturing company. It designs and builds light, medium, and heavy commercial vehicles. The name IVECO first appeared in 1975 after a merger o ...

, Nissan Diesel,

Bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUC ...

, Liebherr, Case CE, Case IH, New Holland into the market. CMC's CKD assembling of cars began in 1974 with the new Volkswagen Golf. It was followed by the Volkswagen Santana and by the models Volkswagen Jetta and Volkswagen Transporter in the mid-nineties. For the Mazda brand, the

323 Year 323 (Roman numerals, CCCXXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 10 ...

626 __NOTOC__ Year 626 ( DCXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 626 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar e ...

and Rustler were assembled in Kenya. Currently the CMC is only assembling the truck model T3500 and the BT-50 for Mazda. CMC next introduced the Maruti brand to the Kenyan market with the small car Maruti 800 and the SUV Maruti Gypsy King. The Maruti range was completed with the Maruti Omni some years later. The latest product is the

Maruti Suzuki Swift The is a supermini car (B-segment) produced by Suzuki. The vehicle is classified as a B-segment marque in the European single market, a segment referred to as a supermini in the British Isles. Prior to this, the "Swift" nameplate had been appl ...

which is only imported and not official distributed through CMC. In the 1990s the CMC introduced the Suzuki brand to the East African market with the

Suzuki Vitara The Suzuki Vitara is a series of SUVs produced by Suzuki in five generations since 1988. The second, third-generation and 2022 models are known as the Suzuki Grand Vitara, with the fourth generation eschewing the "Grand" prefix. In Japan and a ...

and the

Suzuki Alto The is a kei car produced by Suzuki since 1979. The model, currently in its ninth generation, was first introduced in 1979 and has been built in many countries worldwide. The Alto originated as a commercial vehicle derivative of the Fronte, b ...

. Later the Vitara was replaced by the

Suzuki Grand Vitara is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal com ...

and the model range was completed with the

Suzuki Jimny The is a series of four-wheel drive off-road mini SUVs, manufactured and marketed by Japanese automaker Suzuki since 1970. Originally belonging to the kei class, Japan's light automobile tax/legal class, the company continues to market a kei- ...

and

Suzuki SX4 The Suzuki SX4 is a subcompact car and crossover produced by Japanese automaker Suzuki since 2006. A successor of the Aerio tall hatchback and sedan, the first-generation model was available as a hatchback and sedan, with the former available i ...

. The most recently introduced brand was in 2004 with Škoda and their small car Škoda Fabia, followed by the sedan version, which is assembled as the Škoda Octavia for the East African market. For the Ford partnership, the CMC had assembled the Ford Escort, the Ford Telstar and the Ford Laser. Currently assembled models are the Ford F-250 (2004 version), the Ford Ranger THA (2004 version), Ford Focus C307 and the Ford Territory (SX model).

Assembled vehicles

* Iveco AT720 Prime Mover * Iveco Euro-Trakker * Iveco MP380 * Nissan Diesel CB31 Bus (62 seats) * Nissan Diesel CB46 Bus (67 seats) * Nissan Diesel CWB450 Truck * Nissan Diesel MKB210 Bus (62 seats) * Nissan Diesel MKB210 Truck * Nissan Diesel NU41 Bus (29 seats, also known as ''Swara'') * Nissan Diesel NU41 Truck (also known as ''Swara'') * Nissan Diesel PKF210 Truck * Mazda T3500 * Mazda BT-50 * Škoda Fabia * Ford F-250 (2004 version) * Ford Ranger THA (2004 version) * Ford Focus C307 * Ford Territory (SX model) *

Ford Mustang The Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its sixth generation, it is the fifth-best selli ...

(GT, EcoBoost)

Corporate structure

, the holding company whose shares were previously listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange is known as CMC Holdings Limited. The subsidiaries owned by the holding company include the following: # CMC Motors Group – Nairobi, Kenya # CMC Motors Finance – Nairobi, Kenya # Cooper Motors Corporation – Kampala, Uganda # Hughes Motors Limited –

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...

, Tanzania # Hughes Agriculture Limited –

, Tanzania

Ownership

CMC Holdings Limited and all its subsidiaries in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are wholly owned by the Al-Futtaim Group, based in the United Arab Emirates.

References

External links

Official website of the ''CMC Motors Group Limited''
{{coord, 01, 17, 57, S, 36, 49, 39, E, display=title Car manufacturers of Kenya Bus manufacturers of Kenya Truck manufacturers of Kenya Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1912 1912 establishments in Kenya Kenyan brands Manufacturing companies based in Nairobi Motor vehicle manufacturers of Uganda Companies formerly listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange