Market Insights
What the Kenyan used-car market did in the last twelve months
Prices, the shift toward hybrids, and the effect of the eight-year import rule on which model years are now scarce.
Moses Muthemba25 Jul 20262 min read
Three things defined the market this year: currency movement, the hybrid shift, and a supply squeeze in specific model years.
Prices
Landed costs tracked the shilling closely. Yards that bought stock early in the year held a pricing advantage through the middle of it, which is why identical specifications varied so widely between dealers.
Hybrids became the default
Hybrid variants now command a premium over their petrol equivalents in almost every segment, reversing the discount they carried five years ago. Buyer confidence in battery longevity has caught up with the engineering.
The eight-year rule bites
As the cut-off moved forward, the supply of clean, well-specified units in the newly ineligible years dried up quickly. Locally used examples of those years have held value better than usual as a result.
What buyers are searching for
Across our own search data the pattern is consistent: SUVs first, hybrids rising fastest, and a marked increase in filters for verified and inspected vehicles. Buyers are trading a little on price for a lot more certainty — which is the trend we built this platform around.