Demand for luxury cars in Kenya dropped having a heavy toll on Porsche and BMW which did not make any sale for the first two months of 2019 according to stats released by Kenya Motor Industry Association (KMIA).
During the period, Land Rover, which includes Range Rover in its fleet sold 8 cars, a drop from 14 that were sold at the same time in 2018.
Jaguar sold one unit in two months while Mercedes through DT Dobie sold 49 units in the two month period, up from 32 sold at the same time in 2018. DT Dobie also sold one Jeep Grand SUV, down from two.
The overall sale of new cars dropped by 289 units (14.68 percent) to 1,680 cars. Isuzu East Africa sold 588 units in the two months, up from 531 at the same time in 2018.
The new Toyota brands sold fell from 403 sold during the first two months of 2018 to 349 this year. Mitsubishi sales dropped from 306 units to 292 units while Nissan saw their unit sale drop from 108 to 49.
Market analysts have attributed the drop in the sale of new cars to the recent government’s purge on corruption. Of late, the government has been scrutinizing the lifestyle of people especially public servants as well as those who do business with the government.
The refraining of banks to lend to individuals after the implementation of the interest capping law has also contributed to individuals not buying luxurious cars.