"The unexpected crash in the exchange rate for the Pound for the US Dollar, from US$1.58 to 1.48, in just four weeks from mid-June is hitting wholesale fuel costs", said Brian Madderson, Petrol Retailers’ Association (PRA) chairman.
The words “sporting Volvo diesel” may have seemed paradoxical not long ago, but exhaust supplier Milltek believes the manufacturer’s new C30 R-Line 2.4 and 2.5 T5 respond well enough to tuning and enhancement that it has added an exhaust system for both models to its burgeoning portfolio. The company has also created a tailored system for the V50 model with the same engine options.
The Petrol Retailers' Association (PRA) has offered to submit evidence to the European Commission on alleged anti-competitive pricing tactics in the UK fuel market. In a letter to Alexander Italianer, Head of DG Competition at the European Commission in Brussels, Brian Madderson, PRA Chairman, addressed the current EU oil price fixing investigation and offered the PRA's assistance in this important inquiry.
The Petrol Retailers' Association (PRA) has again voiced its concerns about the unpredictability of the wholesale petrol market. In the last seven days there has been a drop by over 2.6 pence per litre (ppl), which encouraged supermarkets to rush price reductions onto their forecourts. However by the start of this week, wholesale costs recovered all that reduction, resulting in a swing of more than 5.2ppl over a few days of trading.
Despite several leading supermarkets dropping fuel prices at the pumps, new research from leading vehicle remarketing company BCA, highlights that fuel costs remain a major concern for motorists. When BCA polled over 720 used car buyers in March it found that three quarters claimed the price of fuel is their biggest worry when it comes to motoring costs and over a third are frustrated by the lack of action by the Government to tackle fuel prices. Three quarters of motorists use their car every day and one in five drivers are particularly concerned about the rising costs of motoring because they rely on their car for their work.
Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles – seen by many people as the answer to clean, all-electric mobility without the range restrictions of battery-electric cars – could be a step closer and a lot cheaper as a result of the pioneering efforts of a British company. There are currently two major barriers to the full-scale introduction of fuel cells – cost and the lack of a hydrogen refuelling infrastructure. But ACAL Energy, a small company based at Runcorn in Cheshire, claims to have devised a cell which would cost no more than a four-cylinder petrol or diesel engine.
Kwik-Fit Fleet has launched a new card aimed at SME sector light commercial and car fleets. Called Kwik-Fit Drive, the card replaces the Kwik-Fit Business Drive Card and can be used to purchase fuel and obtain vehicle breakdown and recovery, while it also provides fleets access to a range of Kwik-Fit services at competitive prices. Kwik-Fit Drive will be officially launched in June.
The Petrol Retailers’ Association (PRA) has submitted evidence to the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) on the state of the UK retail fuels sector. The Parliamentary BIS Select Committee recently launched an inquiry into the UK retail market to question the effects regulations and costs have on the sector.
Following a slow year in 2012, the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) has published first quarter 2013 figures showing that the decline has continued.
According to the association, which represents the European operations of some of the largest tyre manufacturers in the world, the market for consumer tyres fell 12 per cent (to 46.6 million units) in the first quarter. This is said to have been because of, amongst other factors, bad weather conditions, delay of the change from winter to summer tyres, and not least the current economic environment.
"Independent petrol forecourts are experiencing a rise in crime rates yet the support of local police forces can greatly differ" said Brian Madderson, Petrol Retailers' Association (PRA) Chairman.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has delivered the latest UK budget including the cancellation of planned fuel duty increases. Other key points include confirmation that the income tax threshold will be raised to £10,000 by next year and the first £2000 will be taken off all employers’ National Insurance bills. Growth is forecast to be 0.6 per cent this year, with £3 billion promised for infrastructure investment as a way of improving this. Beer duty will be cut by 1p a pint.
Demand for used vehicles overseas is leading to cars targeted for export selling for up to twice their UK value or more at auction, say independent car information experts CAP. But the used vehicle export phenomenon is not confined to cars, with CAP's experts also reporting a constant flow of trucks, trailers, motorcycles and vans abroad as the export trade grows every day. This trade, supplying almost every continent with used British vehicles, is pushing prices ever higher in the UK and creating shortages of certain models.
The Citroën Hybrid Air has enjoyed its world premiere at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, and the technology is expected to be in production by 2016. Based on a petrol engine and hydraulic components (engine and pump) but no battery, the French car maker states that Hybrid Air technology combines ground-breaking performance with maximum accessibility. Citroën claims the Hybrid Air demonstrator can achieve 2.9 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres, with carbon dioxide emissions capped at 68 grammes per kilometre; in comparison the Citroën C3, at the same power, uses 4.5 litres of fuel for 100 kilometres and emits 104 grammes of carbon dioxide per kilometre.
"The initiative by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) that will see supermarkets stick to helping shoppers with lower grocery pricing instead of subsidising fuel offers is music to the ears of all our small, often family owned and run, petrol filling stations who are facing extinction by the aggressive price discounting from the 'big four' UK supermarkets" said Brian Madderson, Chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association.
"The shock rise in wholesale costs is just one of the reasons why the Petrol Retailers' Assocation (PRA) has been knocking on the door of the Office for Fair Trading (OFT), since this time last year, to demand a full investigation into the workings of the UK market for road fuel" said Brian Maddersion, PRA Chairman.
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