Market News

Car dealers delay imports as buyers stay off the market

cars

SECOND HAND CAR IMPORTS AWAIT CLEARANCE AT THE MOMBASA PORT. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Sale of motor vehicles has suffered a major slump, with dealers going slow on importation of new consignments until the presidential election is concluded.

Kenya Auto-Bazaar Association (Kaba) secretary Charles Munyori said second-hand dealers were grappling with deferred sales as many prospective buyers adopted a wait-and-see attitude while most banks were unwilling to finance purchase for salaried employees.

“No bank is willing to guarantee you on the strength of a payslip as most employers have intimated plans to reduce staff owing to sales. Banks that had seized vehicles from defaulting clients have been unable to resell the same vehicles forcing them to plan new payback arrangement with their clients,” he said.

“The total number of vehicles registered decreased to 22,422 in August 2017 from 29,346 in July 2017 whereby motorcycles and station wagons accounted for 67 per cent and 19 per cent of the total motor vehicles registered in August 2017,” says the August 2017 Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) Leading Economic Indicators.

Export of new vehicles to regional market also suffered, with only 27 vehicles sold between April to June 2017, compared to 156 units during the same period last year.

READ: Kenyans turn to cheaper car imports

ALSO READ: Plan to charge car importers pest control fee sparks uproar

Motorbike imports up 79pc in first half of the year