Welcome Back, Mobius. Now Let’s Do It Properly

Ah, Mobius. A car brand that promised so much, yet came just short of delivering on true greatness and changing the conversation about automobiles in Kenya. The promise had started as a simple, even simplistic one. Wrongheaded, many of us said. The original USP was a nonsensical, do-gooder NGO-ish one: to build a basic, mabati vehicle that is supposedly for the African market. A car that, like an old 504, could be fixed with the judicious bang of a hammer. That could work in a no-road farm, and take produce to a no-town market through a no-road village. All very noble, but all very dead-end. Except for a few security firms and some secluded ranches in Laikipia, the Mabati Mobius (I honestly cannot remember whether it was the Mobius 1 or 2) was a failure. Especially in a world of cheap and cheerful imports, in a world where an entire cow can be carried in the back of a Toyota Probox (or even the back of a nduthi, if you were really determined), that business model was never going to take off.

Until the Mobius 3. Now there was a game changer. Despite myself, I fell in love with it. Especially after it received the highest praise from JM Baraza, the one human being whose motoring judgement I trust totally. (Incidentally, his column in the Daily Nation got axed the week he named the Mobius 3 as Car of the Year Runner-Up for 2021).

Anyway, the Mobius 3. A sign of seriousness. And a fabulous motor vehicle. 215bhp Saab engine. Mercedes bits and pieces inside. You could take parts of the roof off, or the entire thing, depending on your fancy. Excellent ride quality and with the off-road chops that its looks promised. The only thing wrong with the car was a totally useless entertainment unit, but that could be cured if you knew the right mathree suppliers. All this in a package (at launch) costing 4 million bob, brand new.

But where the Mobius 3 went wrong, and brought it to the brink of catastrophe, is where the new guys must begin. So here are my unsolicited suggestions for the new ownership team at Mobius. I will take my payment in test drives:

1. But That is Just a Chinese Car. Yes, of Course It Is!

The most obvious one is with the Mobius 3 and its identity. Wajuaji were quick to point out that the car was a rebadged BAIC BJ40 from China. Mobius never quite decided whether to lean into this or deny it sheepishly. My take? Own it. Shout it from the rooftops. Why? Remember the Nyayo Pioneer? If you ignore the politics behind it, it was a wrongheaded approach to developing a Kenyan brand and Kenyan motor vehicle industry. No one in the world nowadays bothers to develop a brand new car from the first bolt onwards, in a silly attempt at originality. There are two main paths: partner with an existing company and build an existing (typically low-cost) model, and gradually move up the value chain (think Maruti Suzuki or Ashok Leyland), or legitimately (or skirting the bounds of propriety and intellectual property) develop a vehicle off an existing brand. The Mobius 3 was indeed a re-badged BAIC BJ40, but this was in turn a rebadged Jeep Wrangler. This is a great pedigree. Not only because the car has had all its kinks ironed out over the decades, but because there is a great supply of after-market accessories, which is rather the point of these kinds of vehicles.

1. Invest in Marketing! Singe Our Eyeballs With Mobius!

For a Made-in-Kenya, wave-the-flag product, Mobius was strangely reticent in telling us about the product. If you called them (and especially if you visited the showroom on Mombasa Road), they were pretty happy to extol the virtues of the car, and even give you a test drive if you asked. But otherwise, they were strangely quiet. Little marketing on television or the newspapers or billboards. Desultory presence on social media. Except for appearances every so often in Nairobi shopping malls, you would be hard-pressed to know about the Mobius 3. The new chaps should throw serious money at the effort to make all of us know about the brand and the car. They had a good idea when our star athletes would show up atop open-roofed cars during athletics meets, but it ended there. Make Mobius ubiquitous. Let it be everyone’s dream first car. Or second car. Or extra car. Make us salivate about it. Let it be on every boy (and girl’s) bedroom wall (do children still put up posters on their bedroom walls?)

1. Sell! Sell! Sell!

Again, Mobius had a strange relationship with the need to sell vehicles and make revenue. They would close the showroom between 23rd December and January 3rd. Yes, their people needed to go to shags for Christmas, but this is a prime sales period. When test drives can be undertaken on empty roads. When people are making their financial plans for the new year and can be convinced to consider a new car while they are at it.

However the reluctance to sell was actually for a pretty significant reason, which is the advice for number 4.

1. Invest in the manufacturing plant

A little bird whispered to me that part of the reason for the hesitation to market and to sell was that they simply could not manufacture units quickly enough. Enthusiastic customers would lay down deposits, but have to wait for a while for their units to be built and delivered. Of course one can turn this to their advantage, making the waiting list a part of brand building and creating intimations of a luxury velvet rope line. But this can only take you so far. Have as many cars as people want to buy, and maybe a few more. Yes, there is a need to manage inventory, but there is nothing like an eager customer waving a ready cheque book.

Of course there is more. Speak nicely to the government especially with regard to tax policy (and this is a vital one). Build out a dealer and service network. Come up with new models - the new investors have already hinted at a Mobius 4 (?) soon.

But bully to them. It is good to see Mobius back. Car enthusiasts everywhere had a warm feeling in their hearts when the press release was published. Our sympathy for the Mobius ‘orphans’ on our roads is now, thankfully, unwarranted. Maybe one day you’ll see my bike on the back of one, on our way to the infinite badlands of Kenya, and beyond.