Vehicle manufacturer and assembler Mobius Motors has gone into voluntary insolvency, after it faced financial constraints that have seen it struggle to pay creditors and employees.
- Since its founding, the company had raised $56mn over 5 funding rounds from 9 investors.
- It closed its Early Stage VC (Series A) $2mn funding round in 2012, with investors buoyed by the idea of a locally made SUV.
- It is still unclear what will happen to Mobius’ customers, who will still need to access spare parts and after market support for their vehicles.
“At a meeting of the shareholders held on 5th Aug 2024, it was resolved to place the Company under liquidation,” Nicolas Guibert, Director at Mobius Motors, announced in a notice, “and to appoint KVSK Sastry as Liquidator to wind-up the Company.”
Mobius Motors, named for the Mobius strip, was founded in 2010 by Joel Jackson, a business strategist and management consultant. It set out to build iconic Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs), producing its first prototype in eight months. It made only 50 units of the subsequent first generation model, before producing the Model II at a KShs. 1.5mn price tag.
Its most recent model, Mobius 3, has a price tag of KShs. 3.95mn, excluding VAT. In 2021, the automaker was embroiled in a tax dispute with the KRA, which had slapped it with a Kshs. 73mn tax bill. As part of its appeal for reprieve, the company filed its financial statements for 2019 and 2020.
It was Kshs 434.4 mn in debt in 2019, which rose to Kshs. 649.2mn in the first eight months of 2020. It also had a shareholder deficit which rose fromKshs. 204.8mn in 2019 to Kshs. 389.1mn in 2020.
In 2022, Mobius announced it was planning to enter the regional market with its second-generation model.
Editor’s note: This is a developing story and will be updated with new information.
