Kenya’s 2022 top selling cars

A Business Daily analysis shows that in the passenger personal brands purchased by Kenyans, sport utility vehicles (SUVs) were most purchased in 2022.

There were 246 Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace Trendline sold, 190 Toyota land cruiser Prado, 52 units of Toyota Rush 1.5 litres and 37 Proton Saga 1.3 litres petrol premium automatic transmission bought in the year under review.

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. By 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.

These luxury brands did not sell a single vehicle in December. Six BMW X5 3-litre engines were sold last year. The vehicle goes for more than Sh16 million, depending on the year of manufacture.

Six BMW X5 3-litre engines were sold last year. The vehicle goes for more than Sh16 million, depending on the year of manufacture. Four Mercedes Benz GLB 200 were sold last year. The brand is sold exclusively by DT Dobie.

The price has gone higher with supply chain disruption during the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Only two Jaguar F-Pace were sold last year. The luxury brand is sold by Inchcape Kenya Ltd.

Large pickup trucks maintained their popularity in 2022, while strong SUV and crossover sales numbers kept them as the dominant vehicle type in terms of top 10 bought vehicle purchases.

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 Isuzu FRR trucks were the most purchased vehicles of 2022 with over 1,500 sales. In today’s supply chains, most freight is transported via road using trucks and hence making them the most sought after by companies, the government, parastatals, and traders among others.

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Most sold brand-new vehicles in Kenya:

Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace Trendline (246 sold)

Toyota land cruiser Prado (190 sold)

Toyota Rush 1.5L (52 sold)

Toyota Fortuner Auto (50 sold)

Proton Saga 1.3L petrol (37 sold)

Volkswagen Touaregs (33 sold)

— Business Daily