The CMC was incorporated as a Private Limited Company in July 1948 with an authorized share capital of GBP10,000 and a staff of two, a Mr. Allen and a Mr. Cooper who had come to East Africa to sell Land Rovers. The story goes that they decided to toss a coin to decide after which one of them the Company would be named. Mr. Cooper won the toss and The Cooper Motor Corporation was founded. Trading commenced in borrowed offices in a wooden hut along the then Jackson Road before in 1952 moving to Siranjee Street where it remained until 1959.
In 1959 the Company relocated to Connaught House, from where for the first time it was able to provide a service, spare parts, vehicle sales and administration under one roof. In 1956, the Cooper Motor Corporation Ltd. was converted from a private to a public Company. By 1960, the Company had in excess of 700 employees with branches in Mombasa, Nakuru, Dar-es-Salaam Tanga, Eldoret and Kampala with a chain of dealers throughout East Africa. New Franchises were added to Land Rover. They included Volkswagen, Suzuki, Mazda, Ford and Heavy Commercial Vehicles. The Volkswagen Beetle proved itself a star particularly after winning the East African Safari Rally four times. The introduction of the Volkswagen Micro Bus also proved successful and played an important role in revolutionizing transport in the Tourism sector.
Meanwhile, in the sixties and early seventies, CMC acquired many companies one of which was the Wilken Group which became CMC Aviation. In 1971, Cooper Motor Corporation changed it name to CMC Holdings Limited, the parent company of the many subsidiaries it owned including CMC Engineering Limited which was incorporated in 1958. CMC’s interest in vehicle assembly came to fruition when a 33% shareholding was acquired in Leyland Kenya (now Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers).
Today, CMC has grown to become one of Kenya’s largest and most respected automotive distributors.
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