Volkswagen, Land Cruiser Prado and Toyota Rush were the most bought brand new personal vehicles by Kenyans the previous year.
A Business Daily analysis shows that in the passenger personal brands purchased by Kenyans, sport utility vehicles (SUVs) were most purchased in 2022.
Volkswagen Tiguan has attracted the eye of many, including getting lease agreements from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations. The SUV is a seven-seater franchised to DT Dobie. It goes for Sh4.9 million.
There has been a growing dominance of SUVs in the local market.
The reasons for this growth are multiple SUV launches last year with advanced features by most manufacturers, competitive pricing of compact SUVs as compared with sedans, and other benefits offered by SUVs such as high ground clearance, robustness and manoeuvrability.
The vehicles are assembled locally at the Thika-based Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers (KVM), where DT Dobie owns a 32.5 percent stake.
The local assembly market has been growing with has attracted Malaysia’s Proton Saga vehicles as more Kenyans embrace the units.
Simba Corporation‘s Proton Saga sold 37 units with the franchise holder saying they assemble five vehicles a month. The locally assembled 1.3-litre vehicle goes for about Sh1.37 million.
The Land Cruiser Prado is one of the most used car brands in the country due to its reliability and efficiency.
The four-wheel drive vehicle in the Land Cruiser range is produced by the Japanese automaker Toyota. Toyota Fortuner Auto was among the most bought passenger vehicles at 50 units in the period under review.
The vehicle goes for Sh9.3 million and has an engine capacity of 2.8 litres with both manual and automatic transmissions. The seven-seater uses diesel and has a tank capacity of 80 litres. Volkswagen Touareg is a three-litre fuel-efficient vehicle.
DT Dobie sold 33 Volkswagen Touaregs in 2022, according to data from the Kenya Motor Industry Association. The vehicle has a turbocharged stratified injected engine (TSI). The TSI engine is a lightweight, high-power, fuel-efficient traditional combustion engine.
It is found in some form on most Volkswagen vehicles, such as the Atlas, Tiguan and Passat. Luxury vehicle brands such as BMW, Mercedes Benz and Jaguar sold less than 10 cars in 2022.
A crossover utility vehicle is a type of automobile with an increased ride height that is built on unibody chassis construction shared with passenger cars, as opposed to traditional sport utility vehicles which are built on a body-on-frame chassis construction similar to pickup trucks.
