Asda has quietly reduced the prices of petrol and diesel across its 320 UK filling stations, without any public advertising. The supermarket chain now charges an average of 153.5p per litre for petrol and 176.7p for diesel, making it around 2p cheaper than its rivals.
The price cuts amount to an average reduction of 4.5p per litre for petrol and 5.5p per litre for diesel. According to the RAC's fuel watch, the decreases began two days ago, following the motoring group's calls for the Big Four retailers—Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, and Morrisons—to lower fuel prices by at least 5p to reflect wholesale savings.
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams expressed approval but noted the cuts were overdue. 'While we’re pleased one major supermarket retailer has finally started heeding our calls to pass on the enormous drop in the wholesale prices of both fuels, the fact these price cuts have been made so quietly is surely admission that they should have come much sooner,' he said.
An Asda spokesperson defended the move, stating: 'Asda is the price leader in the supermarket fuel sector and we remain focused on providing our customers with the best value at the pumps.' The RAC is now urging the other three Big Four retailers to follow Asda's lead.
This development follows a separate study by Which? that named Asda the cheapest supermarket for a large trolley of groceries in November, costing £355.34 on average for 149 items, beating Sainsbury's by £11.49. Aldi was the cheapest for a smaller basket of 48 items at £77.21.
