The RAC has released a new free fuel finder app which it says will enable motorists to locate the cheapest fuel in their area.
It said the launch was a response to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) report earlier this week which stated that supermarkets had inflated their fuel margins and competition was not working properly in the road fuel market.
It will add to the other fuel pricing apps on the market such as the long-established petrolprices.com.
The move came as it reported that the average price of petrol rose in June for the first time in eight months, but diesel recorded its eight consecutive reduction.
A litre of petrol increased by nearly a penny (0.7p) to 143.9p, while diesel came down by 1.2ppl to 145.46ppl at the end of month.
However, the RAC also claimed that on average retailers are making a margin of around 12ppl on petrol and 13ppl on diesel compared to the long-term margin of 7ppl, and said this further underlined the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) findings earlier in the week that supermarkets had inflated their margins.
In response it said was launching a freely available fuel finding app in the UK, enabling drivers to find the cheapest petrol and diesel in their area. It said analysis of possible savings showed that by using its app a litre of diesel could be bought for 6p less than the local average price, while petrol could be found at 5p less.
While prices have fallen substantially since the record highs last summer 2022, the RAC said its data showed the big four supermarkets were slow to pass on reductions in wholesale costs this year, particularly for diesel – a point it made in its submission to the CMA investigation. As a result, the RAC is warning drivers not to automatically assume the biggest retailers are the cheapest place to buy fuel as their forecourt prices can vary significantly from supermarket to supermarket and from area to area, sometimes even within just a few miles.
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “June marked the end of the price of petrol falling at the pumps, purely because retailers are taking more margin per litre than they used to. Looking at the wholesale price of both petrol and diesel which is almost identical, average forecourt prices should be 5ppl lower for petrol and 6ppl for diesel.
“While the CMA’s findings should lead to lower prices in the future we are giving drivers the ability to save money right now via the new Fuel Finder feature in the free myRAC app. Having been monitoring the price of fuel for years, we know how much prices can vary from one forecourt to another, so we were determined to give drivers an easy way to make sure they get the best deal possible at the pumps.
“The myRAC app can help drivers save up to 6p a litre compared to the average prices in most areas. The more people who seek out the lowest prices using it, the more likely we are to see other retailers nearby lower their prices to compete. And, as we know, proper competition is often lacking in UK fuel retailing everywhere but in Northern Ireland where prices are considerably cheaper than on the other side of the Irish Sea.”
RAC Fuel Watch data for June continues to show a marked difference between average fuel prices in Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Petrol was 4ppl cheaper there and diesel was 7ppl less.
Williams added: “These differences are quite shocking considering all retailers pay the same wholesale prices. It’s interesting to note that Northern Ireland has more retailers per driver and the supermarkets are far less dominant than they are on this side of the Irish Sea.”
