Fuel brand boycotts

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Sat 22 Jan 2011 15:56
Fuel brand boycotts - anthonyf
I remember some years ago when we last all got upset by big fuel price hikes, an email round robin went around suggesting a boycott of the 2 major brands arguing that if enough people stopped buying these brands they would have to reduce their pump prices, thus starting a price war. Did anything ever happen?Just curious.
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Sat 22 Jan 2011 16:15
Fuel brand boycotts - Steven Quas

These never work. Very little of the oil majors profits come from selling fuel at forecourts. The margins are tiny so they hope you'll buy some of the overpriced crap on the way to the tills instead. In a decade there will be very few petrol stations left without a mini mart and a strategically placed entrance so you have to weave around the shelves to reach the till.

Many branded garages (BP, Shell, Gulf...) are actually franchises, so a boycott has little effect on the oil company.....

Steven Quas , Hamburg

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Sat 22 Jan 2011 17:49
Fuel brand boycotts - Westpig

Check 'snopes.com', this sort of thing has done the rounds before

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Sat 22 Jan 2011 21:13
Fuel brand boycotts - colinh
Given the "major" brands are probably supplying the supermarkets it seems pointless. More effective and less inconvenient all round would be to reduce your mileage by 10% or alternatively reduce your average speeds by 10%. The latter would add a couple of minutes to most journeys but a 10% reduction in petrol companies sales would soon have an affect.
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Sat 22 Jan 2011 21:49
Fuel brand boycotts - Steven Quas

Oil company profits are largely based on the value of crude oil. If UK drivers used 10% less fuel it would make almost no difference to the global oil price. If the whole world reduced their fuel used through driving, it would make a difference for a few years until China, India etc. took up the slack with their rapidly growing market for cars.

Oil companies are not the enemy here. Petrol and diesel prices are high largely due to the tax element which is around two thirds of the price, just as it is across Europe.

Steven Quas , Hamburg

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Sun 23 Jan 2011 09:13
Fuel brand boycotts - injection doc
My personel view would be to stop using a car altogether , there is going to come a time when the cost of fuel is so high it won't be worth driving to work! If everyone called it a day the goverment wouldn't get their tax and fuel companies would be on their knees.
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Sun 23 Jan 2011 09:57
Fuel brand boycotts - madf
My personel view would be to stop using a car altogether , there is going to come a time when the cost of fuel is so high it won't be worth driving to work! If everyone called it a day the goverment wouldn't get their tax and fuel companies would be on their knees.

If everyone called it a day, we would starve in the cold and dark. Period.

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Sun 23 Jan 2011 11:41
Fuel brand boycotts - gordonbennet

Not a hope in hell, the main reason being as said above it's tax that costs not the fuel.

Around 81pence of every litre is tax, the fact you've already paid tax and NI (tax) to come out with that 81p seems to be lost on most who blame the petrol companies. Maybe if the fuel companies erected huge signs outside every fuel station quoting the tax element of the cost then more people would be aware, however knighthoods might be put on hold for chairmen so don't hold your breath.

As for cutting fuel usage, not a hope in hell, i know people who travel 200 miles to visit massive shopping centres (arking and traffic nightmare) where they shop at high street chain stores that can be found within 10 miles of where they live, crackers.

Nice cup of tea, feet up, shop online and starve the govt of it's tax...and the rip off local authorities of their exhorbitant parking fees too.

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Sun 23 Jan 2011 13:06
Fuel brand boycotts - Steven Quas

The rate of improvement in fuel economy which is faster than the duty rise, should mean that you can even reduce the amount of fuel duty you pay over time, if you can resist that large-engined model!

Steven Quas , Hamburg

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