Transport firm Multiple Group has been appointed the local dealer of luxury car brand Bentley, with the first models expected to arrive in June.
The move expands Multiple’s presence in the new luxury car market, which it entered in 2014 with the Porsche brand.
Local customers have already paid for five Bentleys whose prices start from $270,000 (Sh27 million) and can top the $390,000 (Sh39 million) depending on the level of customisation.
“We are setting up the Bentley dealership through a company called Bentley Nairobi,” Mr Dimitris Karakoulas, an executive at Multiple’s automotive division, told the Business Daily.
“We expect to sell up to nine Bentleys by the end of the year. We already have orders for five units,” he said, adding that the dealer is targeting rich customers with finer motoring tastes.
The dealer will start selling the Bentayga (SUV), Flying Spur (sedan) and Continental GT (two-door coupé) and could further expand the line-up to include Mulsanne, which has an extended wheel base.
Mr Karakoulas said Bentley buyers are mostly rich families with dynastic wealth and self-made entrepreneurs who emphasise quality and distinction in their consumption.
The pricing of Bentleys indicates the models will have few rivals including Range Rover Autobiography (sold by RMA Kenya) and Mercedes-Maybach and S-Class (DT Dobie).
The entry of Bentley underlines increased spending on luxury items by Kenya’s super-rich whose ranks have grown in the past decade thanks to overall economic expansion and a rally in the price of specific assets including real estate.
Multiple is spending $20 million (Sh2 billion) on a new complex that will house a show room and service centre for the Bentley and Porsche dealership, Mr Karakoulas said. Bentley and Porsche are part of the brands owned by Wolfsburg-based Volkswagen Group.
