Dem. Rep. of Congo: Toyota Hilux and Prado strong leaders
* Click on title for street scenes and videos! *
New cars are relatively rare in the streets of the capital Kinshasa, and among them the clear leaders are the Toyota Hilux and Prado. The latter’s old gen is the most ubiquitous car there and the new generation is promised to a similar fate.
Other popular models in Kinshasa are the Toyota RAV4, Nissan Frontier old gen, Suzuki Grand Vitara, Isuzu KB (aka D-Max), Tata Pick-up, Nissan X-Trail and Patrol, Jeep Grand Cherokee and, interestingly, Toyota FJ Cruiser!
More commentaries, Street Scenes and links to YouTube videos below.
As far as the second hand models are concerned, the country’s streets are filled with old Mercedes (90′s Merc 190, C Class and 80′s trucks being the most popular), a lot of old Mitsubishi Lancer station wagon and some 1970′s VW Combis.
Below are 2 links to some good YouTube videos that help understand the composition of the car market in Kinshasa.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnO5JNat4YQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOibkbTNfUs&feature=related
These speculations are based on the observation of the streets of Kinshasa through recent YouTube videos, so if you have any more information about this market please make sure to get in touch.
Street Scenes, Kinshasa, Dem. Rep. of Congo 2009/2010
There’s a Mercedes-Benz SL63AMG!!!!! noticed in the center of Kinshasa, on the Youtube video(@5minutes57sec), is it a daydream? or a nightmare? That’s a sheer wonder!!!!