CAR & GENERAL (K) LIMITED
Nairobi, Kenya
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We are one of the few companies in Africa to import directly from leading suppliers and distribute all major brands of tyres, tubes, batteries and auto parts within the East African markets.
Car & General is the company behind a wide range of leading brands in automotive and engineering products in East Africa for over 70 years.
Car & General deals in the sales, service and spares of automotive and engineering products, with some of the leading brands in cars, motorbikes, three wheelers, outboards, brake linings and pads, spark plugs, small petrol engines, air compressors welding alloys and equipment, laundry machines and diesel power generators in East Africa.
Established in 1936 as Car & General Equipment Limited, it was initially located in Nakuru, Kenya before relocating to Nairobi in 1937 due to rapid expansion.
Initial objectives were to import and distribute automotive parts, white goods and re-treading. Tyre re-treading, introduced in 1941 was actually one of the pioneers of local industry.
In 1950, additional capital was raised to finance expansion and Car & General became a public company, floating its shares on the Nairobi Stock Exchange.
In the mid 1960’s, branch offices in Kampala and Dar-es-salaam were formed into separate subsidiaries, car & General (Uganda) Limited and car & General (Tanzania) Limited respectively.
In the 90’s there was a dramatic shift in the revenue base and today, 80% is from different businesses. Today, Car & General is one of the leading names in motorcycles, three-wheelers, diesel generators, water pumps, lawnmowers, laundry equipment and air compressors among others.
In Nairobi, the company also operates MRC – Maintenance Repair Centre, a one-stop facility for reconditioning and remanufacturing mechanical components which has a wide variety of specialized welding and machining processes.
As part of Tanzania’s operation, Car & General operates Kibo Poultry Products Limited, one of the oldest chicken broiler farms on the African continent, situated at Moshi.
Car & General is in Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Nakuru in Kenya, Dar-es-Salaam and Arusha in Tanzania and Kampala and Mbarara in Uganda. Car & General is the master distributor for Cummins (all product lines from gensets to engines, parts and filters) in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia and Seychelles and has representation in all countries except Somalia.
