Do motor manufacturers change the specification of their cars depending on what market (country) they are exporting them to? If so, what sort of changes do they make for Kenya? Jos.
Worldwide, motoring conditions range from super smooth to severely rough. And cars are designed accordingly, either to be “versatile” enough to manage both conditions (in moderation), or “specialised” to one or the other extremes: Mostly sports cars and off-roaders.
The majority of motorists in every market require versatility but to varying degrees. Mass-production manufacturers - who wish to appeal to as many customers as possible while retaining essential economies of scale - respond by offering a wide range of “models”, each with several tailored “variants”. More options than ever before, so there is an off-the-shelf choice to suit every preference. But...
For obvious reasons, these design decisions prioritise markets that buy the most cars. And because customers in most of those places nowadays do most of their motoring on almost flawless high-speed arterial motorways or on tarmac streets – and rarely if ever use any surface a Kenyan would call “rough” - car designs have moved to the smoother end of the versatile spectrum.
Even their SUV’s – which are the epitome of multi-purpose versatility in concept – often have soft suspensions, lesser ground clearance, sophisticated electronics, opulent interior finishes and, oh woe of woes, low-profile tyres. On a Range Rover!!!? To us, that’s like putting mud-grip tyres, a toe hitch, a roof rack and a bush bar on a Ferrari.
None of the smaller and usually rougher markets can compete with the giant markets that cause the smooth trend, but collectively such little places do add up to a significant customer volume (in the margins), so some manufacturers include a “tropical” variant on some models. But what they do is more of a wink than a wholesome handshake. For example, the old standard tyre had a profile of 83.
Specialised high profiles went up to 100 or more. The latest low-profile tyres are often 50 or less (even down to 20!) On a “tropical” variant, profiles seem to range from 60 to 75.
What Kenya has to accept is that the global market runs to tens of millions of new cars per year. We order fewer than 1 in every 1,000 of those. Major mass production manufacturers are unlikely to devote a section of their model menu to that.
So, it is up to Kenya’s national agents to do any further fine-tuning of specifications themselves. And they used to do that (even when “versatile” was already quite upstanding and robust).
Local Assemblers AVA, building imported kits from scratch, could do even more and made several modifications that were so effective that source manufacturers adopted them as their standard.
As an example of home-grown localisation, older readers will remember the arrival of the first Honda Civic, which was exceptionally “quick” for a 1500cc car, but had a soft suspension and very low ground clearance.
The local agents did not just sell it. They changed it, primarily lifting the floor and increasing suspension travel with mounting and suspension spacers (and related reinforcements) and fitting heavy-duty suspension (manufacturers provided a “taxi” variant 15 percent harder than standard).
They then asked me to test it, so I drove it to and up and down the side of the Nguruman Escarpment and filed my report.
They changed it some more and the local agent’s managing director then drove it in every event of the Kenya National Rally Championship for a full season (with shock absorber settings 85per cent harder than standard).
It regularly finished well and did not break. The locally adjusted specs were applied to every model, and (its added capability and durability having been widely witnessed) it sold well.
90 percent of the vehicles now imported into Kenya are not from source manufacturers.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
Later, when American Motors Corporation was planning to foray into the Kenya market, I was invited to drive a Jeep CJ5 off-road over the Sierra Nevada and was then taken around their manufacturing plant in Toledo, in hopes I would declare it perfect for Kenya conditions.
I made some suggestions (not least that bad roads did more damage than off-road) and urged them to test it (and if need be, modify it) by driving from Nairobi to Marsabit and back in a day.
If it did that (on the old road) it would probably be in demand. If it did not manage the trip without trouble, it would not sell well here. They did not do that test. They did not concede there might be a need. It arrived, but it did not thrive.
Kenya now has to grapple with further challenges. Its motor industry captains are no longer rally-driving petrol heads (in the past, many were). And 90 percent of the vehicles now imported into Kenya are not from source manufacturers.
They come from used car dealers, exclusively offering models and variants that were chosen by Japanese motorists and built for Japanese conditions only.
The fact that used imports mostly perform very adequately is testimony to inherent Japanese quality, the rising experience and selection competence of mitumba importers, the global compatability of modern technical standards, and the surface improvement of our most-used road networks.
The tastes and priorities of Kenyan motorists have also changed, with a dramatic reduction in the number of motorists who expect their family car to go on regular or severe safaris.
A far higher proportion than in the past now have 4WDs, or at least SUVs, yet one of the most frequent questions in the DN2 Motoring mailbag is, in a nutshell, “How can I best increase my car’s ground clearance”. More on that next week.
