BOSTON–Credit unions could see a shift in the types of cars members are financing in 2017.
New data indicates that Americans will spend $52-billion more in the new year on gasoline as a result of price hikes and increase in gas taxes, according to GasBuddy.com.
That’s in contrast to 2016, when consumers saved approximately $39 billion due to lower fuel prices. As a result, sales of larger vehicles, trucks and SUVs increased, while smaller high-mileage cars did not sell as well.
GasBuddy.com noted oil prices are up 18% since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other nations agreed to reduce output, pulling up pump prices to the highest for this time of year since 2014. Higher prices may damp fuel demand, which was buoyed as cheap gasoline and stronger economic growth boosted sales of SUVs and other light trucks.
Gasoline will reach above $3 a gallon in at least Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, and Washington D.C. in 2017, according to GasBuddy.
While the implementation of OPEC cuts continue to garner headlines, drivers should “look for more states to shift from low taxes to higher taxes and/or automatically adjusting gas taxes,” GasBuddy.com is projecting.