2007 Total Kenya Motorshow

This is an account of the action on the First day of the Total Kenya motor show, which ran from the 7^th to the 9^th of September 2007

The theme of this years Show was “Closer to the Customer”, in this respect, the Kenya Motor Industry Association (KMI) and Total did not disappoint.

The Show was held at the Ngong Racecourse, and according to Event Chairman Claude Mwende, ”The show has been successfully staged for many years at the KICC in the City Centre, but it is getting bigger and bigger every year and now it needs more space for and even wider range of displays and a new level of action”.

When the man says action he knows what he’s talking about, The Rhino Charge competitors brought a small piece of their action onto a purpose built off-road arena, which also doubled as a demonstration area for Earth moving equipment.

At any point in time, a bulldozer piling earth into a huge mound could stop for a moment and a member of the FourX Extreme 4WD Team, bored by the construction site simulation, would drive right over the mound on his way to the forested section for a display of off road madness.

All this while you waited for a display of defensive driving and motor vehicle stunts performed by graduates of the Glen Edmunds Performance Driving school, if you didn’t like the real stunts, Nyanza Petroleum was ready and willing to show you Uma Thurman playing with a Pirelli P-Zero wheeled Lamborghini in the Mini Theatre at its stand, that is of course if the Helicopter displays didn’t drown out the sound.

It was difficult to look to the sky with the H3 Hummer and the Renault Formula1 race car planted firmly on the ground, as well as the stunning AmbiPur Car Perfume girls who mingled freely with show goers, mingled as freely, I might add, as their Hot-Pants and Mini Skirts would allow.

If you could spare a moment to glance skywards, Gyrocopter pilots with freshly minted Pilots licenses may have led you to worry, but the Pitt Special Aircraft , piloted by a man just one step away from the highest aerobatic qualification in the world (according to KMI) would have your jaw dropping for a reason your significant other would approve of.

Now if you are the kind of guy who buys a Ksh 9 Million Jeep Commander on sight, you could be invited to the 9 Hole Golf Course smack dab in the middle if the racecourse, lesser mortals had to contend with the Hole-in-one Charity shootout .

The KMI and Total Kenya, ever mindful of the environment, had a tree planting campaign open to all, Total has a strong Environmental Conservation record and this is an effort that deserves much praise.

Now, with the gas guzzling H3 on display, GM suddenly went on a vegetarian diet with its sponsorship of a NGO engaged in the production of Bio-Diesel. Their intention is to grow or recycle enough vegetable oil to power farm equipment and perhaps blend Bio-Diesel with mineral diesel to fulfill emissions standards set by the Kenya Police which are still under discussion.

This is to be done in conjunction with local communities, although many a well heeled showgoer was heard saying things like “my farm”, “extra land” and “commercial viability” with dollar signs in their eyes.

Speaking of dollar signs, the banking sector with its aggressive sales campaigns could not miss this for the world. Their stands invited all and sundry, from those willing to finance the purchase of the Chinese vehicles on show to those buying fleets of Lorries and Randon trailers.

The bank staff were courteous and kind but the prize for the most courteous staff in my opinion went to the Subaru stand, which was showcasing the new B9 Tribeca. The usual losers in this category, Mashariki Motors were not in attendance on Friday.

The Subaru B9 Tribeca retailing for Ksh 6 Million, it features a 3.0 Litre Horizontally Opposed 6 Cylinder “Boxer” engine with an output of 245PS at 6600rpm, consuming 12.3 lit. /100Km

Standard features include 7 inch centre display; dashboard mounted 6CD changer with full MP3 Compatibility, with an Auxiliary jack for iPods and other MP3 players inside the centre armrest, away from prying eyes

Dual Zone Air Conditioning, a ProDrive ™ Sportshift gearbox and 16 Airbags are also standard; I must say at this point I got all this information from the pretty girls at the stand, a welcome change from last year when all they knew was that Subarus are fast and they sound really good

The DT Dobie Stand

featured a Renault F1 car



The Nissan Patrol Pickup



The Nissan Navara was also highlighted



The recently launched C-Class was also on display


Self Portrait in C200



In both trims
Yours for only EUR66500


The E200 Kompressor looking good with the latest facelift



The EUR 77300 GL 320 CDI



Badge Delete was clearly not an option





The Official DaimlerChrysler dealers have the German part in check, heres the American Element

The 300C

You can get this 3.5L V6 powered piece of Detroit for EUR 77000



The Jeep Brand had to be there, with its cousin the Hummer round the corner and all



This is the imposing 7 seater Jeep Commander 3.0L TurboDiesel , all EUR 92500 of it



The weird looking Nissan with the weird name was also here, It was the only car at DT Dobie with a price tag in KSH, 2.23Million



Elsewhere, does this man look like he's cleaning a Nissan Hardbody?





Actually, its a Foton 1 tonne Pick-Up from China, Powered by, get this, a Great Wall Engine




Yours for Ksh 1.8 Million

Other cars in this price range could be seen at the Marshalls stand

The Kia Rio is a pretty little thing with a 1.4L engine

Yours for Ksh 1.5 Million



The Peugeot 407 was in attendance



as well as the 207


thats an indicator under the side view mirror



At Simba Colt, theMitsubishi Dealers unleashed their entry into the popular Double cabin Market, the L200 Sportage



The Ksh 3.9 Million Evolution IX crouching


The New Pajero was here, Ksh 5.3 Million for the 3.2L version


A blast from the past from Simba Colt, for Ksh 2.8 Million

GM had 2 stands at the show, one featured trucks and the Isuzu D-Max with an interesting cover for the load bed for the double cabin

The other featured the newly introduced Hummer H3 which was one of the major attractions at the show

The 3.7L V6 power plant

Interior

The main selling point were its unique looks and all the attention you would likely receive driving one

Interior

In my view for Ksh 6Million you should get a lot more, if you wanted to attract attention driving down any road in Kenya here are some other 4WD vehicles you can do that with.

Riding on 38s should attract all the attention you need

But, they must have made an amazing impression. The Kenya Army now owns 41 examples of the military version, the Humvee, generously donated by the American Government.

The GM stand also featured a Cadillac SRX4 which they plan to introduce to the market based on interest generated at the motor show.

I must applaud GM for this, the only other people who used the show to determine which models they should introduce were Simba Colt with the L200 and DT Dobie with the Navara

However, Cadillac is a premium brand. It’s the Rolls- Royce of America. Captains of American Industry, Billionaire Entrepreneurs and Top US Government Officials hit the road in a Cadillac. In fact, the President of the United States is ferried about in a Cadillac DTS Limousine

For GM to imagine a Station Wagon is an adequate ambassador of the Cadillac brand was in my view downright irresponsible.

A SL500 parked outside Panari Sky Hotel

Sales of small planes in Kenya are at an all time high. On a bad day on Waiyaki way, one may encounter a Mercedes Benz E500, (i.e. an E-Class somebody bought with S-Class money), a BMW 750iL, one of two SL55 AMGs (Which by the way, have a two year waiting list) among many other luxury cars.

The market for premium brands is well developed, GM could have done better

Toyota Kenya

The showpiece of the Toyota Stand was the Camry

Which borrows some styling cues from the Lexus LFC Concept

Also in attendance was the Toyota Avensis

The Toyota landcruiser 75 series, that favorite of Somali Warlords, received a facelift

And is now called the 76

The current landcruiser also made an appearance

So did its baby brother, the Prado

The recently launched Fortuner was also around

Good old fashioned rally cars also made an appearance

All in all, the motor show was an exciting experience, cant wait for next year!