Tahmeed Coach, the passenger transport company which has always been synonymous with Scania buses, has just switched to MAN vehicles in their latest additions.
New Tahmeed Coaches rolling out from the Master Fabricators in Kenya are all wearing the iconic ‘MAN’ badge as they get commissioned from August 2025.
MAN, Truck and Bus, is a German subsidiary of Traton that produces commercial vehicles, engines and buses.
Scania is also a subsidiary of Traton, but the vehicle brand is from Sweden.
Tahmeed Coach, though at one time the company also flirted with Chinese built vehicles, from Zhongtong, it has always been using Scania buses, with locally manufactured bodies as it is the norm with most Kenyan transport firms.
In 2024 however, Tahmeed decided to deviate a bit, by acquiring a fleet of the Marcopolo G7 versions of Scania.
Marcopolo coaches are usually manufactured in Brazil, but the Tahmeed ones were assembled in Mombasa by the Associated Vehicle Assemblers (AA).
Turning to Marcopolo, made most people believe that the bus company had now ditched its previous coach builder, Master and started to focus on the Brazilian brand.
However, if their latest fleet f 2025 is anything to go by, Tahmeed Coach seems to be back again in the Master’s factory.
In addition, the company has also shifted to MAN, the Germany vehicle maker, suspending Scania, the Swedish brand for a moment … Or maybe even forever, who knows.
Master is the company which has been responsible for fitting the Tahmeed coach bodies on the new MAN bus chassis.
Buses that usually ply local routes in East Africa are mostly Scanias, Isuzus, Nissans and for the case of Tanzania, Chinese brands such as Yutong, Zhongtong, Higer, Golden Dragon and Asia Star.
Now for the first time, Tanzania will have a taste of German built MAN buses courtesy of Tahmeed’s new coaches.
The only German bus brand to have ever cruised on Tanzanian roads was Mercedes Benz.
But the Benz Coaches were also few and far apart.
Tahmeed is one of the leading public bus transporters in East Africa which has been in business for the last two decades.
While the company headquarters happen to be in Mombasa, Kenya, the owner is believed to be a Tanzanian possibly living just across the border in Tanga, though some say he is either based in Dar-es-salaam or Nairobi.
But with a fleet of nearly 60 buses, Tahmeed means serious business.
The company vehicles traverse the entire landscape of Kenya, while also serving major routes in Tanzania.
Their trademark is simple, fewer on board seats guarantee ample leg room and adequate elbow space, plus the buses will always fill their manifest faster and depart to the respective destinations in time.
Their luxury buses feature free WiFi, electrical charging outlets, DVD players, reclining seats, air conditioning, and flat-screen TVs.