I don’t think its about negativity; Its about logic. Like what @Mathice has mentioned/asked, why re-invent the wheel? I may not have actual statistics right now but am more than sure that in this world, there are so many countries (especially in Europe) that can sit down and build a working prototype of a car in less than 5 years and have futuristic qualities that can easily compete with the current leading automobile firms. But the questions are always the same; is it necessary? Is it worth it? For the company, citizens and the government (read economy)…will it be beneficial to these entities in the long run and yet there are already self-made multimillion firms that know the car market inside out? Right now, major car companies are moving into electric motors as the source of engine propellant. By having cars like the laferrari, mclaren p1, porsche 918 and the regera, one can see that even supercar firms are forced to move into this technology. Hell even f1 cars are bowing to this. Now, whilst perusing through their website (Mobius’) just to get a glimps of what they have in this car that is geared for the future world, i came across this under their design functionality;
To serve African market demand we re-design the car. We heavily simplify our product by eliminating air con, interior fixtures and even glass windows while maximizing function with relevant suspension and handling. The simplicity in design drastically reduces the cost to purchase and maintain the car.
First of all, having to remove key facilities in a car is a technique I know is used by track cars and super cars just to achieve one thing…speed!!! I mean, how, in a normal circumstance, would you expect a guy with his family (traveling upcountry for instance), to have at-least a 2 hour drive, in the rain, without air con and be comfortable? Are we back in the 60s?
Secondly, they claim they are doing this to reduce cost (not even weight) and yet, tax excluded, it costs ksh950,000. In my view, with that fact only, Mobius has lost more than half of potential Kenyan customers, leave alone Africa.
I also disagree when you say that we never promote our own. What about rugby? Our famous runners/athletes? I think it depends with the context and how “promotable” it is. Have you ever watched any episode of “Shark tank” or “dragon’s den” tv series? If so, you may have seen many ingenious products being thrown out by these sharks!! They do this not coz they don’t want to support/promote these guys (or their products) and yet they are American/Canadian made, but they reason around the benefit(s) these products will rake in for both of them. The same case here, only on a larger scale. Right now, as i see it, the only people who will be willing (and able) to buy such a car are the rich who participate in the rhino charge as @ol monk said, coz frankly, there are so many other practical, reliable and yet cheaper cars in the market that an ordinarily African will not ditch in order to buy this. My sentiments.