South Korea's Hyundai, whose fuel-efficient models are popular in India, logged growth of 51 percent in the Indian market in August over the same period a year ago.
Sundarajoo, the Web site coordinator in Singapore, said some potential buyers are researching hybrid cars, even though they are more expensive than regular vehicles.
In Thailand, the government introduced energy-saving measures in July that call for state-owned cars to switch from gasoline to gasohol, a blend of ethanol and gasoline. They also include requirements for advertising billboards to be lit only three hours a day and gas stations to close late at night.
In India, where the government sets fuel prices to keep them affordable, consumers are having to pay higher prices. This past week, authorities gave state-run oil companies permission to raise gasoline and diesel prices by about 7 percent.
In New Delhi, gasoline now goes for 165 rupees a liter (US$3.80 per gallon), and diesel for 116 rupees (US$2.70 per gallon).
In Indonesia, where fuel is subsidized, soaring oil prices are threatening to bust the government's budget, which in turn has sent the nation's currency, the rupiah, to a four-year low against the US dollar.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says subsidies need to be cut to avoid a financial crisis, and Indonesian officials this week said that authorities are discussing plans to lower subsidies between 50 to 60 percent in the next month or two.
But some fear that price hikes will trigger social upheaval reminiscent of unrest that toppled dictator Suharto in 1998.
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