It is the world’s largest automaker’s formal entry into Kenya’s electric-car segment as competition among dealers and assemblers intensifies. Toyota had only sold its EVs in North America, Europe and Asia.

CFAO said it will initially import the Toyota bZ4X fully built, with plans to assemble it locally – therefore lowering prices – as demand increases.

“We are now importing them from Japan as completely built-up units and sell them at Sh10 million,” CFAO Mobility Kenya’s head of product training, Sukhjiv Kular, told Business Daily.

“Assembly is dependent on volumes, so for now we will import fully built. We plan to begin assembling it locally in the near term,” the company’s General Manager for Toyota sales, Daniel Maundu, said.

CFAO said it is targeting organisations seeking to reduce their carbon emissions as well as individual motorists looking to lower fuel and maintenance costs.

“Our main targets are organisations like UN bodies, NGOs and local corporates. We are seeing interest from staff at these multinationals who are at the forefront of cutting their emissions,” said Mr Maundu.

The company is also positioning itself to benefit from the government’s growing interest in electric mobility.

“We are also targeting government departments, as the State recently floated a tender for leasing a 600-unit EV fleet,” Mr Maundu said.

The Toyota bZ4X offers a driving range of up to 516 kilometres on a single charge, among the highest available in Kenya’s electric vehicle market. Electric subcompact SUV rivals such as the Chinese Neta V, assembled locally by the Moja EV, offer up to 400 kilometres on a full charge.

CFAO said the all-wheel-drive SUV accelerates from zero to 100 kilometres per hour in 5.1 seconds and comes with an eight-year or 120,000-kilometre battery warranty.

The vehicle is supplied with a portable AC charger capable of fully charging the battery in eight hours.

Using commercial charging infrastructure, the battery can be fully charged in about two hours, CFAO said.

“We are confident this is a volume seller for us. Going by the interest we are seeing, our order book for this model is expanding. It is almost at par compared to our ICE models and we see it overtaking them,” Mr Maundu said.

The Toyota bZ4X is comparable to the Toyota Corolla Cross and the Subaru XV, also known as the Crosstrek. But at Sh10 million, the SUV costs significantly more than these ICE models.

CFAO sells the Corolla Cross for Sh6.7 million, while the Subaru Crosstrek, distributed by ECTA Kenya, retails for up to Sh6.5 million.

Importing the bZ4X as a fully built unit also places CFAO at a cost disadvantage compared to local electric vehicle assemblers, who benefit from generous tax incentives aimed at promoting local manufacturing.

Electric vehicle assemblers are exempt from the 35 percent import duty charged on fully built vehicles and pay lower Import Declaration Fee and Railway Development Levy charges on completely knocked-down kits. They also benefit from a reduced excise duty of 10 percent and zero-rated value-added tax, helping lower final retail prices.

CFAO is one of the most aggressive players in Kenya’s emerging electric mobility market. Besides Toyota, the dealer also distributes Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD, whose lineup includes the Shark 6 plug-in hybrid pickup truck and a range of electric SUVs.
The company also imports them fully built. The BYD Atto 3, which offers a driving range of up to 480 kilometres, retails for about Sh8.5 million.

CFAO is also the local dealer for Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen vehicles, although the two German brands have yet to introduce their electric cars to the Kenyan market.

Other dealers that have entered the local EV race include ECTA Kenya, which distributes Chinese automaker JAC Motors and recently introduced an all-electric double-cabin pickup truck.

Others like Rideence Africa, the dealer of Beijing Henrey’s small Xiaohu electric cars, Tad Motors, and Dongfeng have set up local electric car assembly lines to benefit from Kenya’s incentives.