Isuzu East Africa has won the UD Trucks distributorship deal, giving the company the right to sell Japanese heavy vehicles locally.

After signing the agreement on Tuesday, production, sales, and after-sales support for UD Trucks will now fall under the purview of Isuzu.

Isuzu EA Managing Director Rita Kavashe said the collaboration will create additional jobs for Kenyans and accelerate economic expansion.

“We understand that commercial vehicles and their applications are a key player in the industry. This offers UD customers assurance of the support they will receive from ISUZU East Africa,” she said.

On the other hand, UD Trucks Middle East, East, and North Africa president Mourad Hedna asserted that UD is confident Isuzu will provide the support its customers need.

“We welcome the partnership with ISUZU East Africa in Kenya to [provide to our customers a comprehensive support for optimum uptime including expert technical assistance and reliable supply of genuine parts.”

With official sales expected to begin in the second half of 2024, the Kenyan automaker has lined up two assembly locations in Mombasa and Thika for local assembly of the vehicles.

Approximately 100 UD vehicles are expected to be sold by the partners by 2024.