Petrol forecourts are New Year battleground
Asda price cut heralds new supermarket struggle
Petrol prices are set to be one of the key battlegrounds for the UK supermarket sector as 2005 gets underway, with a price cut from Asda sparking off a new round of forecourt discounting.
Asda’s 150 petrol stations have dropped the price of unleaded petrol to 76.9p a litre, the lowest price since April last year.
The latest cuts follow pre-Christmas reductions below 80p per litre, and reflect the continuing fall in wholesale fuel prices.
Paul Mancey, Asda trading director, said: “Our aim is always to be the first to drop prices when our costs fall – we do this across the whole of our business without exception. Today we deliver again – offering the lowest pump prices across the UK.
“There can be no excuse for profiteering from high fuel prices. Customers have had to pay more in the past year as costs have risen and should now be paying less. Other fuel retailers should follow our lead without delay.”
Tesco has taken up Asda’s challenge and pledged to cut its prices as well. A spokeswoman said: “We won’t be beaten on the price of fuel in any location and prices in our stores will fall from Wednesday.”
Sainsbury’s said: “We price our petrol locally and we review our prices daily and we always aim to be the cheapest in any area.”
