You have to give Uganda some benefit of doubt. There is a big possibility that they will get it right. I really do not buy your idea of giving up simply because a few morons tried and failed. In any case it is better to try and fail than not trying at all.
Volvo is now booming big time courtesy of partnering with Chinese. They are currently hiring massively.
Saab car section was a Swedish government pet project to keep its military engineers busy during times of peace. Their main business is weaponry and am sure they are cashing in this day and era.
1st RED: And why exactly should I do that? I actually took the "trouble" to look at the entire history of
M7 Sedan and who is behind it. It is on that basis that I see its prospects as rather dim. Take a look around the world and see how many two-men-and-a-dog teams build EVs for "summer competitions". The real question, which must be answered before the big bucks start to roll in, is actually not that complex:
what exactly does the M7-Sedan team (and their allies) have to offer that cannot be easily found elsewhere or brought in from elsewhere (and probably at a lower cost)? So far, I can't think of single thing. Not even cheap labour.
A company like Volvo, which I actually know very well, did not sell itself to the Chinese because of a love for Kung Fu; the car-industry economics simply got too tough. Volvo also happens to have a lot (IP, factories, world-class engineers) that that would interest outside parties. There are numerous other instructive examples: take a look at, say, Holden, Ford, GM, and Mitsubishi in Australia and elsewhere. It's a tough world. I could be wrong---and time will tell---but I don't see many lining up to "partner" in the production of these M7 things.
2nd RED: A trite statement that's paraded around far too often, unnecessarily, and to the detriment of many misguided souls. The real truth, as borne by experience, is that there are numerous cases where it's simply not worth the bother or it's just a too-costly stupid indulgence. For a little "national-pride" project by some local university kids and a few big-ego industrialists, why not? But if it is anything that requires serious government money or anything serious by anyone serious, one would have to say that Uganda has more urgent problems to deal with than the production of $30,000 clunkers. There is an obvious alternative to getting out of bed to do something silly, costly, and doomed to fail, solely on the grounds that it has to be better than doing nothing: stay in bed and do nothing.
Of course, if Ugandans are happy with all of it, then that's just fine. Good for them. But I will repeat this:
"
I can understand why Ugandans are excited about this, but the Kenyans are a puzzle."