New luxury car dealers recorded 25 percent drop in sales last year, with Porsche and Land Rover models suffering the biggest decline in orders.
The dealers, including DT Dobie and Inchcape Kenya, moved 114 units in the year ended December, down from 152 units the year before, according to data from the Kenya Motor Industry Association (KMI).
The performance of the high-end car dealers trailed that of the overall new vehicle market which registered a 29.8 percent sales jump to 14,250 units in the review period, marking a six-year high.
Sales of Porsche fell from 25 to one last year as the brand continued to suffer from stockouts owing to termination of the previous franchise holder and a delay in appointing a new dealer.
The franchise owner, Stuttgart-based Porsche AG, terminated the contract of Porsche Centre Nairobi in January 2020 and is yet to name a replacement even after holding discussions with multiple players in the market.
Franchise transfers typically hurt sales in the short term as the terminated dealer focuses on clearing stocks and the new appointee takes time to set up shop.
Orders for Land Rover Discovery and Range Rover models, sold by Inchcape, declined from 36 to 20. Sales of Mercedes, by DT Dobie, dropped from 59 to 52. Orders for Jaguar, also by Inchcape, declined from six to four.
Bentley sales, by Bentley Nairobi, fell from two to one. BMW, also sold by Inchcape, was the only luxury car brand to register sales growth. The dealer sold 36 of the German cars in the review period, up from 24 the year before. Sales of the high-end cars are projected to take a further hit in the short term due to higher showroom prices and supply constraints as a result of the semiconductors crisis.
Shortages of semiconductors –used in cars’ electronic devices— has seen global automakers scale down their production.
DT Dobie is among the dealers that have said the crisis could disrupt supply of some of their models.
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