4. The U.S. auto industry will flirt with selling 18 million vehicles.
“If prices stay low for fuel, there will be more money available for other goods,” including cars, says Robert O. Weagley, chair of the personal financial planning department at the University of Missouri. If the auto industry does not break its record for annual vehicle sales – 17.4 million in 2000 – in 2015, that threshold certainly will be surpassed in 2016 as sales stretch to an almost-mythical 18 million vehicles, says WalletHub. 