Jaguar leads luxury car sales in 9 months

Jaguar showroom. FILE PHOTO | NMG 

By VICTOR JUMA

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Summary

• The industry recorded a mixed performance, with Porsche, Land Rover and Jaguar sales rising significantly while those of Mercedes, BMW and Jeep Grand Cherokee slumping. Sales of the luxury cars stood at 190 units a year earlier, according to data from the Kenya Motor Industry Association (KMI).
• Dealers attributed the relatively sluggish sales growth to banks’ reduced appetite for lending and the government’s profiling of tax cheats using their conspicuous consumption.

Sales of new luxury cars rose 4.2 per cent to 198 units in the nine months ended September, trailing the overall market which saw a 28 per cent surge in orders to 10,793 units in the same period.

The industry recorded a mixed performance, with Porsche, Land Rover and Jaguar sales rising significantly while those of Mercedes, BMW and Jeep Grand Cherokee slumping. Sales of the luxury cars stood at 190 units a year earlier, according to data from the Kenya Motor Industry Association (KMI).

Dealers attributed the relatively sluggish sales growth to banks’ reduced appetite for lending and the government’s profiling of tax cheats using their conspicuous consumption.

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“Sales are sluggish because of difficulty in accessing bank loans,” one dealer told Business Daily.

Another dealer added that the move by the government to measure individuals’ lifestyles against their tax payments has also discouraged some prospective clients from buying the high-priced cars which can top the Sh30 million mark.

Among the dealers, Inchcape Kenya made the biggest gain as orders for its Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) models rose to 89 from 72.

The company earlier in the year offered discounts on part of its stocks, helping to boost sales. The promotion was done ahead of a shareholder change that saw Thailand’s RMA Group sell the dealership to London-based Inchcape Plc.

Porsche Centre Nairobi was second, moving 41 models in the review period compared to 26 the year before. Sales of Bentley Nairobi doubled to four from two.

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Bavaria Auto’s sales of BMWs, on the other hand, fell the most to 21 from 34. The dealer has lost the German car franchise to rival Inchcape Plc which is expected to start selling the models next year.

The move is expected to raise Inchcape’s market share in the new luxury car market to above 50 per cent from the current 45 per cent.

Bavaria in September reduced the price of its 25 new BMW cars by millions of shillings to clear the stocks.

DT Dobie’s sales of its Mercedes and Jeeep Grand Cherokee models declined to 43 from 56.