I was reading an online motoring column the other day. "This week", proclaimed the writer, "Asda sparked a fuel price war by cutting 2p a litre from its fuel prices, taking the maximum price its stores will charge for a litre of diesel to just under £1.19. Tesco immediately responded with a similar price cut".

Obediently repeating the accompanying press releases, the cuts were applauded as a 'blessed relief for cash-strapped consumers'. I can't see it myself.

Queues at my local supermarket petrol station are normally 4 cars deep, making filling up a 20 minute grief fest. Brainwashed by loyalty cards, you queue to get your car on a pump, and wait while the drivers in the cars in front of you queue at the tills to use their money off vouchers or company fuel cards too. A 20-minute exercise to grab 2p off 40 litres saves 80p and values one's life at £2.40 an hour. Worth the effort?

Two pence off a litre of fuel at £1.21 is a 1.65% reduction. The price of crude oil for July delivery has recently been dropping by more than that a day, thanks to Europe's debt crisis, and doubts over the strength of the US economic recovery. So where's our slice of that cut-price cake?

Supermarkets shaving a matched and miserable 1.65% off the price of a litre of fuel, in the face of collapsing crude prices is more reminiscent of private school price fixing than any sort of price war I've ever seen. If neighbouring motor traders each took 2% off the price of a used car and called it a price war, they'd be hauled in front of the local consumer protection bods.

Pump price PR is nothing but a smokescreen. Consumers need to snap out of their brand-obsessed stupors, and open their eyes to the massive profits these retail supertankers are making from the hard earned cash of the man in the street.

Here's the truth: real price wars start with the customer. If we want cheaper living, we've got to vote with our feet, and our wheels.

22/05/2010 David Oldroyd

I completely concur with the views you have stated. The great british public has followed the Supermarket induced journey for the past 20+years and where are we? less choice, fewer independent stores, fewer fuel stations, a dying off licence business, fewer butchers, greengrocers and fishmongers etc etc. They select a market and hook people in on the back of pricing advantage and then once the sector has withered they are in control.
Has the recession hurt the major supermarkets? No way! Their profits have soared! Helping us - never in my view.