AFRICA'S FIRST CAR COMPANY
The Problem: Most cars in East Africa are imported second hand vehicles that are often not suited to the environment. Countries like Kenya have a 100% import duty on vehicles. Thanks to that there exists the opportunity to build a brand new vehicle for the same price as imported second hand cars. I was the Vehicle Integration Manager at Mobius Motors, the first company to design, build and sell vehicles in Africa. I managed all the design engineers; chassis, powertrain, body, interiors, electrical and packaging, as well as offshore resources. I worked with styling, quality, production, supply chain and suppliers. In my first role at the company I was the Senior Test Engineer responsible for the vehicle testing strategy.
Below - The original Mobius ii in production. I sped up production by 3.5X, improved quality and solved manufacturing problems.
Above, the new Mobius ii. I worked on every aspect of the design and reviewed 2D drawings and 3D models for all parts (1000+).
Part of managing the design team involved solving technical problems such as how to optimise the handling performance, designing for manufacture/assembly in welded parts and even fibre glass panels, how to modify off the shelf components to fit our vehicles, how to improve the ergonomics and comfort for the driver and passengers and how to best coach other engineers to develop their skills faster. I worked directly with finance, supply chain, quality, production and service during the programme.