Getting Your Wheels

The Ethiopian automobile market is a quilt work of too many used car dealers who also sell the odd brand new car, auto-marts (for lack of a better name) or corner car dealerships (not to be confused with the branded dealers) and the hordes of brokers.
“Getting Your Wheels”, is a three part series of Brakes Please and focuses on the automobile and motor vehicles industry and market, tips on what to look for when purchasing a used car along with a Top Ten of cars with the highest resale value in Ethiopia.
Established Importers
Vehicle importers that pioneered the Ethiopian market were invariably founded and owned by expatriates or by naturalized Ethiopians. Not surprisingly, FIAT Sacafet (its once grand premises opposite Progress Bldg now crumbling) commanded the lion’s share of car imports and 100% of trucks, chiefly the memorable N series of trucks. Fiat Sacafet even used to offer a free Fiat 600 upon the purchase of a “trenta quatro” as the entire series of hard working trucks is called to this day. Sacafet fell victim to the 1974 Revolution and subsequent events while Orbis and Seferian, importers of Mercedes Benz and Renault, and Volkswagen respectively, somehow managed to survive into the light of their present resurgence, along with Paul Ries & Sons, purveyors of Peugeot. Citroen; located a stones throw from Sefarian and within spitting distance from Orbis, didn’t make it as the mother company in France was also going through a difficult patch.
Automotive brands such as Fiat, Mercedes Benz, Opel, Peugeot, Volkswagen, Ford and others, established dealerships in Ethiopia long before they did in most of Africa. The Ethiopian nobility, elite classes and the intelligentsia were heavily influenced by European culture and way of life (French was the official foreign language of the imperial court) and naturally bought European cars. American brands were deemed “agul menterarat” (too ostentatious and uppity) and reserved for the truly “Ye- Chewa Lij’ – pure bred nobility, and featured on weddings and state functions.
The notion that an Asian upstart would arise from the east to usurp the established importers from the Ethiopian market was if not unthinkable then laughable – as indeed Toyotas, Datsuns and Mazdas were scoffed at from the time they started showing up in the late 1950s on Addis streets. Currently, the Japanese have effectively with Moenco and Nyala Motors, of Toyota and Datsun Nissan respectively, a commanding share of the market.

No. Resale Value Top -10
1. Toyota Corolla ‘Weyane’
2. Toyota Carina 3
3. Toyota Landcruiser
4. Suzuki Vitara
5. Toyota Camry
6. Toyota RAV4
7. Kia Sportage
8. Nissan Prado
9. Land-Rover Defender
10. Lada 1200s

Lada 1200s: This vehicle’s sale price is artificially inflated and does not at all reflect its actual low value. The car is sought after as a taxi due to its simple mechanical system and inexpensive and widely available spares.