On an ordinary workday, Nyambura Wambui, better known as Nyambu the motorist will be dressed in her dark blue overalls, wearing a welcoming smile on her face. She co-owns Feca Auto Care garage with her brother.
The pair are specialists dealing with hybrid and electric vehicles, and have slowly carved their names as one of Kenya’s leading experts in the relatively new and fast-growing field in Kenya.
In a recent interview with a Nation Africa, Nyambu disclosed that she grew up in Kinoo, in a family that wasn’t privileged to own cars. Yet this didn’t hinder her fascination of the machines. She and her brother would stroll to the roadside just to count the cars.
“I was one of those kids who would routinely go to the road and count cars. I just needed to see the front and not the back and I would already know which car it was,” she said.
The siblings bonded over their love for cars. Her brother studied mechatronics engineering while she, studied Criminology at Murang’a University, graduating in 2020.
She was fortunate to get a job within her career domain as a forensic analyst for motor accidents and thefts. However, this wasn’t quite the dream job. Instead, she found herself gravitating toward the garage where her brother worked.
“I just loved being around cars. I came back to the garage where my brother worked then, as a place to unwind as I thought about the future,” she recalled.
During these meditation sessions, she realized an opportunity in the automotive space owing to the increasing number of hybrid vehicles flooding the Kenyan market. She noted that there were few experts to handle them as most mechanics handled normal cars.
After learning about the gap, she and her brother decided to gain expertise in hybrid vehicle operations and repair by taking several courses.
They viewed it as a potentially huge and rewarding market gap that they had to fill. The dream paid off with the eventual establishment of their own garage, Feca Auto Care.
“Hybrids are our halfway home to electrics. We will get there, but in the meantime, hybrids make sense for us in Kenya, especially with our current infrastructure.”
As a woman in a male-dominated industry, Nyambu has faced her fair share of challenges. Many people are surprised to see a female mechanic and often doubt her abilities. Furthermore, she admits that a man’s strength and physique are important especially when it comes to handling heavy equipment and torquing some nuts.
“People are more interested when they see a girl here. But the challenge is you have to really know your craft. A customer will dismiss you if you fumble as a girl. You’re held to higher standards,” Nyambura admitted.
Second-hand 2018 Honda CRV vs Mazda CX-5: Which is value for money?
Another challenge she notes is the misinformation and cultural attitude Kenyans have towards hybrid cars, hence their slow adoption in the country. Many believe that hybrids are relatively expensive to maintain.
This problem is compounded further by a lack of proper support for hybrid vehicles as many ordinary vehicle mechanics are not been open to learning their operations.
“Hybrid cars cannot be misused. You have to be a bit more careful. Dust will be constant given our Kenyan roads, and if someone does not know that they are supposed to clean the fan, the battery dies within a short time,” she advised motorists.
Nyambura Wambui has listed the expansion of her workshop as a priority on her vision board, eventually aiming to venture into car assembly. She is also looking to inspire more women to join her in her trade.
“As a woman, if you feel that you have the passion and the zeal for it, go for it. It’s an interesting world, and anyone can do it. As long as you are committed, passionate and joyful about what you do, you give it your best. There is so much room for women,” Nyambu concluded.
