Could other retailers now cut prices?
A new petrol price war has broken out with two supermarkets slashing 2p off a litre. Asda said it would reduce its fuel from today, bringing it down to 92.9p across all of its 172 outlets. Tesco rose to the challenge and immediately knocked 2p off of its forecourt prices, while Morrisons also followed suit.
The move caused a domino effect and before long Total had cut the cost of unleaded to 92.9p a litre. The price of diesel remains at 106.9p a litre. AA spokesman Andrew Howard said: ‘When supermarkets decide to move, the rest usually follow and that really helps to pull average prices down across the country. This is good news for drivers – and we hope to see the price fall again.’
RAC motoring strategist Adrian Tink said: ‘It’s great to see there’s more welcome news for motorists. We hope the other major petrol retailers quickly follow suit.’ The news comes just days after Prime Minister Gordon Brown asked the Office of Fair Trading to monitor forecourt prices to ensure retailers were not profiteering.