Chinese automotive brand Jetour has officially entered the Kenyan market with a live launch featuring four new sport utility vehicle (SUV) models – the T1, T2, Dashing and X70 Plus – marking a major milestone in Kenya-China industrial cooperation.
Held in Nairobi, the debut event drew top Kenyan government officials and industry leaders, including Prof. Erastus Gatebe, Secretary for Industrialisation at the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry, who described Jetour’s entry as a clear vote of confidence in Kenya’s aspirations to build a competitive automotive manufacturing sector.
Local distributor Global Motors Centre Ltd. (GMC) announced that Kenya will benefit from a KSh 1.4 billion (approx. US $10.5 m) investment to adapt an existing Mombasa plant for Jetour vehicle assembly starting in early 2026. This move aligns directly with Kenya’s Vision 2030 industrial agenda and looks to foster job creation, skills transfer, and value-chain localisation.
The entry of Jetour reflects the broader momentum of the Kenya-China bilateral relationship, which spans infrastructure, manufacturing and investment. China is Kenya’s largest trading partner, and Chinese firms have played pivotal roles in major projects such as the Nairobi–Mombasa Standard Gauge Railway and the expansion of modern manufacturing zones. Kenya’s policy framework increasingly supports local assembly and import substitution – ambitions that match Jetour’s strategy for Africa.
Moreover, Chinese automakers such as BYD and Chery have already made in-roads in Kenya, signalling a wider shift within Sino-African trade toward higher-technology, value-added manufacturing rather than simple imports.
Industry observers say that Jetour’s launch could accelerate Kenya’s automotive transformation. If the assembly plant scales up as planned, Kenya may see growth in the supply of components, increased technical apprenticeships and a deeper local aftermarket ecosystem. Kenyan officials emphasised the importance of protective but open policies to nurture this kind of industrialisation.
At the same time, the Kenyan market presents challenges: competitive pricing, consumer perception, service-network expansion and regulatory alignment. The show of high technology and local production intent indicates that China’s automotive brands are adapting their global strategy to African markets – leveraging Kenya as a regional hub while aligning with national industrial and green-mobility objectives.
As Jetour begins sales and gears up for assembly operations, the Kenya-China automotive corridor emerges as a promising example of how trade and manufacturing partnerships can evolve into deeper industrial collaboration. The journey of the newly launched SUVs may well represent a key chapter in the story of Sino-African development-driven commerce.
