Peculiar Kenyans buy numbers, not new cars

Some years back, a corporate honcho remarked that Kenyans’ have peculiar calling habits.

That did not go down well with most of us. We felt insulted by the very company that we were spending lots of cash on so that we could be in touch with family and friends.

But if the revelation by Car Importers Association of Kenya is anything to go by, we have remained peculiarly to our Kenyan identity not only when it comes to calling habits, but also when buying motor vehicles.

Dealers of imported used motor vehicles are not a jubilant lot.

They recently petitioned the government to introduce a four digit registration system, for more units to be registered on a particular series.

They want to be allowed to clear vehicles from the port before processing their registration numbers.

The importers argue that registration numbers are getting replaced so fast due to the high number of vehicles being imported, and this affects prices.

In a memorandum to the Kenya Revenue Authority commissioner general, the players poured their hearts out, whining that they are incurring losses because they are registering vehicles before selling them.

According to Peter Otieno, the chair of the importers association, the current three-digit system allows 23,976 units to be registered within one and a half months.

That system, he says, brings new numbers into the market even before the old numbers are cleared at the port, and that pushes down prices of vehicles with “older” numbers.

So how does it work?

Let us call him Ken. He needs to buy a car. He sees a looker on the road and makes a mental note to visit car yards to familiarise himself with the model.

When Ken finally settles on a particular Saturday to do the rounds, he finds the right car and is happy with it — but its  number registration is KBZ.

He even negotiates the price and come Monday, he is moving from one office to the other cajoling fellow Sacco members to sign the loan application form for him.

By the time his loan is approved a few weeks later, new numbers are in town!

Why would Ken buy the KBZ when he can shop around for a KCA?

“This happens because our customers do not want old numbers and we are forced to sell vehicles with the so-called old numbers more cheaply,” he says, adding that Kenyans buy numbers.

Facts available indeed vindicate the importers’ concern.

In the second week of July, we had KBZ 001A and now we are starting the third week of September and KBZ are finished.

Going by this trend, most buyers now want the KCA series and very soon, car importers know that Kenya Commercial Bank will not be the only KCB in town — and you can take that to the bank.

They say the number of imported motor vehicles has increased from 9,000 units per month in 2013 to 12,000 units.

The four-digit system, they say, will give numbers a  longer shelf life, and will increase the number of vehicles registered under a particular series to 239,976 number plates.

That will take almost a year before a new numbering series comes in.

So if indeed new car owners are more concerned by newer registration numbers as opposed to the condition of the car they are buying, isn’t that peculiar?