General Motors East Africa (GMEA) recorded a 15.6 per cent sales increase and a 31 per cent market share in the first nine months of the year 2015. The gains were driven by driven by increased sales and market share losses by some of its top rivals such as Toyota Kenya and DT Dobie.
Total sales in the industry stood at 15,101 units in the period compared to 13,060 units a year earlier, according to statistics from the Kenya Motor Industry Association (KMI). GMEA, which sells Isuzu and Chevrolet brands, grew its sales by the largest margin in what grew its market share to 31 per cent from 26 per cent last year.
General Motors CEO Rita Kavashe: We’re benefitting from construction projects.
The company has as a result of the increase, overtaken Toyota Kenya which was ranked as the country’s largest dealer in the nine months ended September 2014 with a 29 per cent market share that has reportedly dropped to 22 per cent in the review period. General Motors sold 4,724 units in the period compared to 3,469 units the year before.
Rita Kavashe,the CEO attributed the growth to increased demand from public infrastructure works and SMEs. “We continue to benefit from projects like the standard gauge railway and small businesses that are buying more commercial vehicles to take advantage of the boom in various sectors,” said Ms Kavashe. Toyota’s reduced market share reflects its drop in sales from 3,785 units to 3,285 units. Toyota last year benefited from tenders that saw it supply the police service more than 1,000 vehicles.
CMC Holdings also joined GMEA in growing its market share to nine per cent from eight per cent, riding on the popularity of its Ford pick-ups.
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