A shortage of number plates for motor vehicles has resurfaced again this year, in what has stalled sales of cars and hurt dealers already grappling with low orders due to economic hardships that have beset potential buyers.
Dealers say that the shortage has persisted for the past three weeks even as the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) remains mum. The crisis looks set to derail sales as the year edges to a close —a time when dealers traditionally enjoy high sales.
Lack of number plates hurts the ability to sell cars or even complete bank transfers that require number plates, significantly hurting the cash flows of dealers in a tough environment.
This is the second time this year that shortage of the critical parts has hit dealers, with a similar crisis having been experienced in April this year.
“There is an industry outcry and it is a big one. It (shortage) has persisted for the past three weeks. We do not have number plates for the KDV-W, X, Y and Z series,” Charles Munyori, the Secretary-General of Kenya Auto Bazaar Association said yesterday.
Dealers are grappling with low sales amid a tough economy and the shortage of the plates is set to exacerbate the woes.
It is not clear what has triggered the shortage, which has left dealers staring at significant reduction in sales ahead of the Christmas and New Year festivities.
NTSA had not responded to queries from over the shortage and when dealers should expect resumption of normal supplies.
Dealers usually get number plates within a week after registering the motor vehicles. Lack of the number plates is set to trigger a pile up of units at the port of Mombasa and thus increased storage costs for both dealers and buyers.
Besides dealers, buyers are also stuck given that they cannot get their cars even after paying the Sh3,000 fee for the critical parts.
The crisis has forced dealers to deepen reliance on Kenya Dealers (KD) number plates as a stop-gap measure to mainly move them from the port of Mombasa or showrooms for test-drives by clients.
These number plates are for motor vehicles without insurance or those whose whose physical Number plates are not yet out. These plates can only be used between 6am and 6pm.
Lack of number plates has been a recurring problem over the past few years, pushing dealers into cash-flow woes over inability to complete sales and bank transfers.
Dealers grappled with a shortage of number plates in April this year and August last year. NTSA has never offered an explanation behind the cause of these shortages.
The shortage of number plates looks set to derail the steady rise in registration of motor vehicles that has been recorded since the start of this year.
Official data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows that registrations of motor vehicles (excluding motorcycles and three-wheelers) jumped 25 percent to 75,059 in the eight months to August this year from 59,945 in the same period of last year.
