South Korean Consumers Are Eyeing Cars With Larger Engines To Take Advantage Of The Oil Price Drop

by Jean Marie Abellana / Jan 19, 2016 09:48 AM EST

More South Koreans perceived the downward trend of oil prices as an opportunity to look for bigger cars with more powerful performance, the Korea JoongAng Daily noted. The report made reference to the data compiled by South Korea's automobile and oil companies.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that oil prices settled down at 36,246 won ($30) per barrel for the first time in 12 years, and U.S. oil declined to as much as 11 percent last week. More so, the Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) released the most recent data revealing that West Texas Intermediate oil price settled at 36,825.94 won ($30.48), Brent crude at 36,620.54 won ($30.31) and Dubai crude at 32,005.22 ($26.49) per barrel.

Subsequently, in the local setting, South Korean gas stations have dropped down their gasoline prices last week from 1,403.59 won ($1.16) to 1,389.05 won ($1.15) per liter. In November last year, the KNOC recorded that South Koreans were able to consume a total of 6.311 million gasoline barrels.

The dramatic decrease in oil prices in the international market created a stress-free feeling for all South Koreans owning a car.

"It means that people don't feel stressed about driving their cars because gas is getting cheaper every day," said KNOC Spokesperson, Lee Seung Yong.

It has also pushed South Koreans to look for fancier, bigger and more powerful cars regardless if these cars are gas guzzlers or not.

The Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association (KAIDA) revealed that more South Koreans bought cars with engines between 2,000cc and 3,000cc manifested by the 27.3 percent recorded increase in car sales last year. Moreover, the sales of cars with 4,000cc or larger engines also shoot up by 17.1 percent year-on-year.

"Consumers who hesitate to buy imported cars generally worry about the so-called caring cost that includes fuel and insurance fees," KAIDA Executive Yoon Dae Sung said. "But people started having more interest in high-performance cars lately."