THE supermarket fuel price war grew ever more intense today as Tesco swiftly followed Asda in announcing price cuts.
Asda revealed unleaded will fall by 2p to 111.9p per litre, and diesel will drop 4p to 124.9p across all its 171 forecourts tomorrow.
Tesco retaliated by bringing in cuts of up to 2p per litre on petrol and 4p on diesel this afternoon at the store's 430 petrol stations.
However, retail giant Asda has also challenged fellow large supermarkets to implement fuel prices nationally, which it says will result in a better deal for consumers.
Asda trading director David Miles said: "The latest price cut is a further example of our commitment to make motoring more affordable for Britain's drivers and hopefully this time our competitors will follow suit rather than charging locally high prices.
"With costs falling, now is a perfect time to show fair prices to all your customers by taking higher prices off the pump."
Calculated locally
A spokesman for Tesco said its petrol prices are calculated locally, but it will match rival tariffs in each area.
The latest cuts continue a price war sparked last week, when Asda cut 3p from diesel and unleaded - which swiftly provoked similar drops from Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Tesco.
Today RAC motoring strategist Adrian Tink said: "It's great to see another cut in petrol prices.
"This couldn't come at a better time for the thousands of parents taking their kids out during the school holidays or for those setting off on their summer break. This move, combined with other recent price cuts, means motorists can potentially save around £5 on an average tank of fuel compared to a few weeks ago.
"But let's not kid ourselves, prices are still too high and motorists are still feeling the pain at the pumps - there's still a long way to go but it is a very welcome step in the right direction."
Morrisons stepped into the foray this afternoon, cutting petrol by 2p a litre and diesel by 4p a litre on its 285 forecourts.
"Product falls"
Petrol director Phil Maud said: “Once again, when the price of crude and refined product falls, Morrisons customers are the first to benefit from cheaper prices at the pumps, with no catches.
“Its another simple, straightforward reduction and another price crunching move which yet again demonstrates our total commitment to giving motorists the very best value when they fill up at our forecourts.”
The cuts have been welcomed by motoring organisations.
President of the AA Edmund King said: “The fuel price war started with the supermarkets last week and now we appear to be entering Round Two of the battle.
“Motorists have not had much good news this year but the price reductions led by Asda will bring a sigh of relief. We hope that more retailers will join the crusade soon.”
RAC motoring strategist Adrian Tink hailed the cuts but said more could be done.
He said: “It's great to see another cut in petrol prices - it proves it can be done. This couldn't come at a better time for the thousands of parents taking their kids out during the school holidays or for those setting off on their summer break.
“This move, combined with other recent price cuts, means motorists can potentially save around £5 on an average tank of fuel compared to a few weeks ago.
“But let's not kid ourselves, prices are still too high and motorists are still feeling the pain at the pumps - there's still a long way to go but it is a very welcome step in the right direction.”
A spokesman for Sainsbury's said: “We continue to monitor prices and will always be competitive on a local basis.
“In addition to this, we are currently running a 5p off per litre promotion when customers spend £50 or more in-store and they will earn Nectar points as well.”
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Guten Tag (30/07/2008 at 14:44)
ace, manchester (30/07/2008 at 15:25)
Well said that man.Its time some of the motorists in britain woke up and really smelled the coffee.I changed my car to a very small fiat a few years ago to the snigger of my mates and they all had to eat humble pie over the last year or so.And the same will go to the electric car.all those petrolheads will have to rethink about how they get around on our roads and shows like topgear etc will have to stop trying to impress people with speed and how fast a car can travel in a given time.these shows are getting outdated when we have luxury cars doing less than 10mpg?in this day and age.
jacko101 (30/07/2008 at 15:42)
As for the luxury cars, they just don't care how much fuel costs as they can afford it anyway!
But we do need to move away from oil, but until the big players in the industry do this we are stuck being fed what we can get!
Councillor Allheart, in a black cab (30/07/2008 at 15:45)
ace, manchester (30/07/2008 at 16:02)
Well done mate have you noticed how we got slagged off over the price of fuel ? and now because we size down our cars the same applies ? people have to move with the times and the price of fuels etc.ive been on this fuel efficiancy drive for around five years lightbulbs and washers etc all fuel efficiant and ive cut down the size of my bills this isnt stupid its being "clever" its stupid if you just sit back and allow things to get expensive? once again mate well done.
Manchester Dale, Manchester (30/07/2008 at 17:10)
alvinlwh (30/07/2008 at 20:26)
The Cocteau Twins (30/07/2008 at 21:54)
ace, manchester (31/07/2008 at 08:59)
Next time you look at a new cars spec just take a look at where it says (MPG)?
Gary SK13 (31/07/2008 at 13:09)