Pickup trucks for Kenya — right-hand drive, built new, delivered to Mombasa

What does it take to import a new pickup truck into Kenya?

Two rules from the Kenya Revenue Authority decide whether a pickup can be registered in Kenya at all: the vehicle must be right-hand drive, and it must be under eight years old counted from first registration. Most pickups arriving in Mombasa are second-hand Japanese units approaching that age limit. Forunmotor ships new FOTON Tunland pickups, so the age rule is not a constraint, and right-hand drive is built at the factory to order — steering geometry, pedal box, dashboard, wiring and instrumentation are produced as designed, not converted afterwards.

The landing taxes are public: 25% import duty, 16% VAT, a 3.5% Import Declaration Fee and a 2% Railway Development Levy, plus excise duty which scales with engine capacity — commonly 20–35% for combustion pickups and 10% for vehicles driven only by an electric motor. Trucks leave Qingdao or Shanghai and reach Mombasa in 25–45 days depending on routing, with 20–30 days production after deposit; a firm FOB or CIF quotation is returned within 24 hours of an enquiry that states the port and quantity.

Kenya is one of the markets we ship to most often, and it is also one of the most specific. Two rules decide whether a pickup can be registered in Kenya at all, and they change which vehicles are worth importing: the vehicle must be right-hand drive, and it must be under eight years old from first registration.

Both rules are stated by the Kenya Revenue Authority. Most pickups arriving in Mombasa are second-hand Japanese units approaching the age limit. Ours are new, so the age rule is not a constraint for us at all — and right-hand drive is available on request.

Right-hand drive, from the factory

Our standard configuration is left-hand drive, which is what most of Africa and South America takes. For Kenya we build right-hand drive to order.

This is not a conversion. The vehicle is produced right-hand drive at the factory, so the steering geometry, pedal box, dashboard, wiring and instrumentation are all as designed — not adapted afterwards. If your order is for the Kenyan market, say so at the enquiry stage and it is built that way from the beginning.

Why new matters here

Kenya’s age rule	Vehicles must be less than 8 years old from the year of first registration (KRA).
What that means for a new vehicle	Zero years old at import. No expiry clock running from the day it lands — the eight years start when it is first registered in Kenya.
What that means for resale	A new unit still has its full registration life ahead of it when you sell it to a fleet or a county buyer. A seven-year-old import does not.

The range we ship to Kenya

Tunland V7	Long wheelbase double cab. The flagship of the range.
Tunland V9	Long wheelbase double cab, higher specification.
Tunland G7	Double cab, the workhorse configuration.
Tunland S / Tunland E	Double cab and single cab variants.
Tunland G9	Double cab.
Plug-in hybrid	Available — worth noting for Kenya, because the excise treatment for electric drive is different from combustion (see below).

Full specifications, dimensions and configurations are on the model pages.

What it costs to land a pickup in Kenya

We do not publish vehicle prices, because the number depends on your specification, your quantity and your incoterm. But the taxes around it are public, and you should have them before you compare any two offers. These are the rates published by the Kenya Revenue Authority:

Import duty	25%
Value Added Tax	16%
Import Declaration Fee	3.5%
Railway Development Levy	2%
Excise duty	Scales with engine capacity. Commonly 20–35% for combustion pickups. Vehicles with only an electric motor for propulsion are rated at 10%.

Two practical notes on that table. First, excise is the line that moves most between configurations — the same truck with a different engine capacity can sit in a different excise band. Second, the 10% electric rate is why the plug-in hybrid and the electric options are worth pricing alongside the diesel, rather than after it.

Import duty, VAT, the declaration fee and the levy are calculated on customs value, which is assessed by KRA — not on whatever figure appears on the invoice. Ask us for a valuation breakdown with your quotation if you need one for your bank.

Mombasa, and what arrives with the trucks

Port	Mombasa
Loading port	Qingdao or Shanghai, China
Ocean transit	25–45 days depending on routing
Production lead time	20–30 days after deposit received
Container	40′ High Cube. Tunland G7, Tunland S and Tunland E load three units per container; all other models load two.
Minimum order	One unit. We will ship a single truck in a full container.

Documents in every shipment

• Commercial invoice (original)
• Packing list
• Bill of Lading (original, couriered)
• Certificate of Origin
• Pre-shipment inspection certificate — the roadworthiness certificate KEBS requires to be issued by its appointed agent in the country of export. Without it the vehicle cannot be cleared, so it is issued before the container leaves, not after.
• Certificate of Conformity (COC) where the destination requires it
• Full VIN list matched against the loading photographs
• Manufacturer warranty booklet

Kenyan clearance also calls for a copy of your PIN certificate or certificate of incorporation, and — for used imports — a cancelled logbook from the country of origin. On a new vehicle there is no prior registration to cancel, which removes one more step from your clearing agent’s list.

Questions Kenyan buyers ask us

Do you supply right-hand drive?

Yes — built to order at the factory. State it at the enquiry stage.

Is a brand-new Chinese pickup acceptable to KEBS?

New vehicles are inspected for conformity at the export end by KEBS’s appointed agent, and the certificate travels with the shipment. The eight-year rule applies to used vehicles; a new one starts at zero.

Can you quote CIF Mombasa?

Yes. We quote FOB Qingdao/Shanghai or CIF Mombasa — ask for whichever you need, and compare quotes on the same basis, because they are not interchangeable.

What is the smallest order?

One unit, in a full container. Three units if you are ordering Tunland G7, S or E, since those load three to a 40′ High Cube.

What warranty applies?

With the manufacturer’s warranty. Terms are confirmed by destination country and model at quotation.

How long from order to Mombasa?

20–30 days production after deposit, then 25–45 days at sea. Ask for a schedule against your own delivery date and we will tell you what is achievable rather than what is convenient.

Three things to send us

Destination port (Mombasa), the quantity you are considering, and confirmation that you need right-hand drive. That is enough for a firm FOB or CIF figure within 24 hours, Monday to Saturday.

See all export markets and what changes by country →

See all 40 export markets and what changes by country →

Right-hand drive, loaded and shipped