The RAC has again vented its frustration at the big four supermarkets who are holding onto excessive profit margins at the expense of struggling motorists.
The greed of the big four has been shown by Costco, which reacted to falling wholesale prices by cutting its petrol price by 8p to 147p per litre – a whopping 12p less than the average price of at the supermarkets.
When asked about the greed of the big four supermarkets on yesterday’s BBC Breakfast, former Transport Secretary and current Secretary of State for Business, Grant Shapps, said that British motorists should be the ones holding the likes of Asda and Tesco to account by choosing to fill up elsewhere.
Quite why it should be up to the motorists to make sure they’re being charged a fair price is beyond us…
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “Drivers who aren’t fortunate enough to be members of Costco will no doubt be horrified to see just how cheaply fuel can be sold. It’s no wonder you often see long queues for fuel at Costco. In fact, they recently had to change the queuing system at their Bristol forecourt to cope with the number of people wanting to fill up.
“The fact petrol and diesel can be sold for 12ppl less than is currently being charged on average at the big four supermarkets is very concerning. Even accepting Costco operates on pretty thin margins the supermarkets should be slashing their prices. On Tuesday this week we called on them to cut by 5p per litre, but since then wholesale costs have fallen even further, so they should really be cutting by at least 7p per litre.
“Given the huge gap between wholesale fuel prices and the averages charged by the supermarkets, it could be argued that drivers are being deprived the benefit of the government’s 5p duty cut. This is unfair and we hope it is being duly noted by both the government and the Competition and Markets Authority which is currently investigating UK fuel retailing.
“Other than trying to fill up somewhere cheaper there’s very little drivers can do to avoid shelling out more than they should have to in the cost-of-living crisis.”
Fed up of the greed shown by the big four? Let us know what should be done in the comments below.