Prius Sales Increasing Again?

With fuel about to skyrocket (OPEC in the news a couple of days ago reducing supply and pushing price up to pre GFC levels) will improve sales, and make people weep who bought trucks and SUVs because fuel is cheap.

 

let the weeping begin!

 

wait, is this about europe? very confusing article. the old continent, right?

 

I noticed gasoline was up to $3.40 nearby today. I calculated my fuel savings prior to purchase based on $3 a gallon. I knew prices would go up soon. They always do. It's a plus for sure but not my only reason for purchase. It's just a nice car. It's a clean car. It's a reliable car. Savings on gasoline is a big benefit on top of those things in my mind.

 

prices haven't changed out here, still under two bucks. but 'as goes california...'

 

I just saw that New Jersey just approved a 23 cent Gas Tax hike!

....gone are the days of fillin up in Jersey to save a few bucks. I still have Delaware right down the road though

My Lovely PA has the highest gas tax of any State in the Country I do believe. Our gas prices may not be the highest in the country but our taxes are for some reason.

 

bummer, i always filled up there on the way to florida. will south carolina be next?

 

Still $2.19/gallon here in eastern MA. Expecting a drop below $2/gallon once the winter blend hits.

OPEC has lost control of the price of oil. The Saudis got burned last time OPEC agreed to cut production (the Saudis stopped pumping, but many other member states did not). By many accounts, they are not willing to cooperate this time and some sources say they are able to run a profitable operation at $15/bbl. The media and uninformed are fear-mongering over inflation. Meanwhile the largest commodity cartel in the world is losing a fight against deflation.

 

Just filled up our 2014 v three today since we were in DE @ $2.19 at a shell station.

On the way home by my place in PA I noticed the Giant (supermarket) gas station was $2.19 also!!

So no savings today for heading to DE, Granted shell is top tier I believe and not sure what Giant is..

 

I wouldn't expect the price to rise suddenly - there are over 4000 tankers out on the ocean, and I'd suspect quite a few are full waiting for the price to rise. Saudi (at least) is struggling financially and desperately needs to sell at a better price. Maybe the US election might be a trigger for price rises - who knows what could be artificially holding prices down.

 

Here in UK the gas stations pounce on anything untoward to push the price up. Now, if only they were as keen to drop the prices down again.....

 

There is nothing artificial about gas prices. As you mentioned, there is a huge amount of supply available.
Simple supply and demand.

If OPEC can limit their production and if enough American oil production has gone offline, supply will dwindle and prices will go up.
Frankly, I don't see either happening for some time yet.

I need to correct my first statement. Taxes are an artificial aspect of gas prices, however, they work to increase the prices, not lower them.

 

how is u.s. and worldwide demand currently?

 

Logically one would assume Demand would stay somewhat steady for the most part worldwide....

Its the whole "supply" side and whatever the Saudis decide is the flavor of the day along with the "speculators" that seem to have influence.. I could be wrong though!

 

Here's a piece from CNBC about the possibility of oil hitting $60 next year. The problem is if oil goes that high it makes fracking financially feasible again, so look for supply to increase. It's a seesaw effect with production and prices. Oil is testing $50, and may yet scale to $60: RBC's Croft

 

or may go back to $40.

 

Correct. US sales are still down year-over-year, although that gap has narrowed from a thousand units or more/month to a few hundred. Sales of all Prius models, however, are still down more than 5,000 units from the same month a year before.

 

thanks, i guess 'starting to improve' applies to us as well. that's great news! perhaps supply has been part of the problem, or maybe the deep discounting has much to do with it.