International headlines haven’t been good for companies selling autos in the U.S., but rising oil prices shouldn’t rank very high on their list of worries. U.S. retail gasoline prices ahead of July 4th were at their highest since 2014, shortly before oil tumbled into a bear market. The $3.00 a gallon mark—nearly hit in late May on a nationwide average basis and exceeded in may locations—has been seen in the past as a psychological threshold for changing consumer behavior. That tends to show up slowly in actual driving habits, but it does tend to have a surprising effect on longer-term choices such as what type of vehicle people buy. If that were to be the case then it might help somewhat for foreign auto makers being threatened by tariffs. Year-to-date the average wholesale price of gasoline has been 26% higher than the same period of 2017, according to data […]