By Gajtis Bejleri
TIRANA, July 4 – More expensive to buy, higher fuel consumption, and higher insurance rates are the main disadvantages for cars with bigger engines. While the rest of the world declares lower sales, Albanians keep buying them.
With a constant increase in the price of oil, Albanians decline to change their motor trends. According to the Albanian Center for International Trade (ACIT) and the Customs Office, half of the cars bought in 2007 had an engine bigger than 2.5 liters, and about a third had an engine of at least 3.0 liters.
In 2007, Albanians imported 27,000 cars, while only 3,000 of them were brand new.
If compared to their neighbors, Albanian car owners spend on average twice more fuel, or about $ 3,000 a year. The ever-surging oil prices appears to not bother Albanian owners, while the rest of the world is gradually switching to more economical vehicles with smaller engines,.
Most cars in other Balkan countries have engines varying from 1.0 to 1.5 liters, ACIT says. The same cars in Albania count up to only 2.2 percent of all cars bought by people in the region in 2007.
The total price of cars bought in 2007 in Albania goes up to 117 million Euros, taking into consideration that only the vehicles with engines bigger than 2.5 liters cost EUR 60 million. Other factors increasing the cost of bigger cars are also higher insurance rates and customs duties, usually enforced in the rest of the world, too.
Car retailers in Albania say that the main reason why Albanians keep buying big engine vehicles is because they tend to make their choices based on the durability of the vehicle, rather than fuel consumption.
US declares lower sales
While large engine vehicles are still preferred in Albania, the US market shows their sales are reaching a low. Last week, US car manufacturer GMC declared their sales had decreased drastically. Mostly because of the high oil prices, the drop in sales has marked down the company’s shares by 15 percent, the biggest loss since 1954. Hummer, Ford and Chevy have also declared lower sales since 2007.
Specialists say, it would not be a surprise if GMC was to go bankrupt after all. The surging oil prices, which have been frolicking around $ 145 per barrel this week, would be to blame in this case.
