BOSTON (CBS) — If you drive, then you’ve probably noticed the price of gasoline has increased over the past year….it’s .44 cents higher than this time last year.

But strangely, the sale of SUV’s and trucks is on the rise too, despite the cost of operating the gas guzzlers.

SUV sales are up 21 percent and truck sales are up 15 percent. At the same time, the sale of hybrids is down 8 percent. “The economy is improving, so people are buying higher-powered cars,” says Mike Ferrante, of the Massachusetts Oil Heat Council.

WBZ-TV’s Bill Shields reports.

Ferrante watches the crude oil prices on the world markets every day, and has seen it slowly rise. He believes the increase is because the world economy is getting back on its feet…so are the oil speculators, “They’re buying into the oil futures, and it’s driving the price of crude up, and we pay the price at the pump.”

But drivers WBZ talked to today were split. One man said, “I like my pickup truck, so that’s what I’ll be buying in the future.”

But another said, “The price of gas isn’t going back to $2.00 a gallon, so my next car will be a hybrid.”