THE MOST COMMON MOTOR CYCLE BRANDS IN KENYA

 

With the liberalization of the Kenyan economy during President Mwai Kibaki's regime, the nation adopted a faster pace of globalization turning more to the East and fostering trade relations with China and opening up the Kenyan market to Chinese imported goods including machinery and motor cycles which have increased progressively .According to 2018 official data, at least 1.4 million motorcycles are registered in Kenya, the majority of which are used as cabs. Nearly 17,000 motorcycles are registered each month, the government statistics office said in 2019.

The high demand for motocycles in Kenya have created an expansive ready market for top Japanese and Chines brands in Kenya with the most common motor cycle brands including; Tiger, Boxer, Ranger, Yamaha, Honda and Dayun which are widely used in the transport sector by small scale boda boda riders who early the daily income from ferrying people from point A to B for a fee.

The popular brands such as Dayin DY traded by Captain motors among other top motor cycle dealersin Kenya range from a 150cc capacity to 500 Cc and sells at a price range of Ksh 120,000 to kshs 180,000 depending on capacity and other feature specifications of the motor cycle.

However, even with the market being such from 2005, there has also been a change in local dynamics which has seen motorcycle manufacturers get a boost from 2016 after imports of fully-built units dropped for the first time in five years by 50 per cent to lift revenues and local job opportunities. With data from State firm Kenya Trade Network Agency shows that purchases of imported motorcycles dropped in a drastic turn of events from Sh314.2 million in 2018 to Sh117.4 million in 2019 after rising year-on-year since 2014.