Station wagons, SUVs most popular on Kenyan roads

The Mazda CX-3 is one of the best-looking and most engaging subcompact SUVs in its segment. PHOTO | COURTESY 

By MIKE MWAI
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Summary

• SUVs and station wagons are replacing saloon cars on the roads.

Have you ever wondered why we drive the vehicles we choose? Because we all have unique needs
and wants it is impossible to find a one size fits all vehicle.

Grace Kariuki, 27, just bought her first vehicle. She consulted friends but admits cost of service did not even come to mind when picking her vehicle.

In hindsight it now features at number five on her list. Top of her mind originally was safety for her child, fuel efficiency, price, space, finance and insurance followed by speed, colour, status and finally resale value.

Peter Mayavi, 35, on the other hand was keen on performance and fuel efficiency followed by price and how the vehicle makes him feel and look. He believes a vehicle is a key part of a man’s brand and one must choose very carefully. Finance/insurance and cost of service featured at number five and six consecutively on his list followed by safety, space, colour and resale value.

Kenyans today are buying more crossovers and large SUVs and not for the reasons they were initially designed for. Few ever take them offroad anyway so the reasons now include prestige, safety, space and ground clearance.

According to Kenya Motor Industry Association (KMI) statistics, Kenyans purchased just over 1,200 brand new SUVs between January and September this year. While majority of these are likely to be for government use, it was interesting to note most have engines with more than 2500cc. Only 130 brand new saloon cars were bought, meaning SUVs are still preferred. New vehicles make up about 15 percent of the market, the rest being used cars.

In the larger used car segment the trend was similar. In 2018 a total of 9,838 saloon vehicles were registered compared to 61,816 Station wagons and SUVs. Just over 50,000 used SUVs and station wagons were registered in 2017 and less than 10,000 saloon cars.

Despite the hard economic climate these numbers are expected to grow marginally in 2019 with 6,916 saloon registered by September and 55,620 station wagons and SUVs already logged with three more months to go before the end of the year.

The automotive market has been depressed lately with less money in circulation as the government’s austerity measures grip pockets. This has affected the high-end market with most people looking to spend less than 2 million on a used cars. Over the last 24 months Kenyans have continued to embrace Toyota, Nissan and Honda brand but opened up to the idea of “new” nameplates such as Mazda and Suzuki. We have seen a growth the popularity of Volvo and Mitsubishi crossovers.

In the premium segment Audi has found new takers and this might be related to price. Most drivers looking for a high-end vehicle European brand will first start with Mercedes and BMW. Then turn to the Audi and Lexus brands before looking at VW, Volvo and Peugeot.

According to Kenya Auto Bazaar Association chair, Major (rtd) John Kipchumba, majority Kenyans are still going for Toyota, Nissan and Honda in that order. Their key concern is availability and cost of spare parts. The current trend is to opt for engine size of between 650cc and 1800cc to maximize efficiency as most will want to list their vehicle with a taxi hailing app.