As a rise in worldwide supplies has sent the price of oil below $80 per barrel, some area companies are feeling the love.

It’s not just that consumers are experiencing what some energy experts have called “the equivalent of a tax cut” as prices at the pump fall to pre-2010 levels - as low as $2.80 in the Cape Fear region.  Car buying patterns are also shifting, national media outlets have reported, with more customers passing up hybrids and smaller cars for trucks, larger SUVs and luxury sedans.

Mike Duffy, used car manager at Land Rover Cape Fear in Wilmington, is witnessing the trend first hand.
 
"We have seen an influx of people coming in and buying larger SUVs,” he said Wednesday. “They seem less concerned about owning a less-fuel-efficient car.”

But, added Duffy, today’s Land Rover is not necessarily as thirsty as earlier models.

“A lot of manufacturers are making larger SUVs more fuel efficient in general,” he said, adding that Land Rover produces 4-cylinder and V-6 models, which get better gas mileage than their V-8 counterparts.

“Land Rover is now offering super charged and turbo charged models to get the maximum performance from a smaller engine,” Duffy explained.

Danny McComas, owner of MCO Transport, a multi-state trucking company, took a broad view of the low-gas-price landscape.

"It puts more money into the pockets of shoppers," he said of the gas price drop, adding that, because of an increased demand for goods, "It creates a very busy time for us. Many of us in the transportation industry are seeing the same thing."

More money in the pockets of shoppers creates ripples across the economy, McComas said, and he predicted a busy shopping season during the holidays this year and a merrier outlook for fuel-dependent businesses like his.

"I am happy that, for the first time in many years, America is energy independent," he said.