Supermarkets have begun a price war, as the cost of diesel has been slashed by 2p per litre, making the average price cheaper than petrol for the first time since 2001.
A combination of factors has led to the price drop in diesel. Firstly, the freezing of fuel duty outlined in the Conservative summer budget and secondly the criticism retailers have recently received from motoring organisations for their high costs.
Sainsbury's, Tesco, Morrisons and Asda have all made diesel price cuts.
The last time diesel was the same price as petrol…
- S Club 7 released their third album 'Sunshine'.
- 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone' became a box office hit.
- Ian McEwan's Atonement, Neil Gaiman's American Gods and Yann Martel's Life of Pi were published.
- 'The Office' debuted on BBC Two.
- The iPod was released, changing the way we listen to music.
Mark Todd, petrol director for Morrisons, said: 'Because of the recent price drops in the wholesale diesel price, we are able to pass on these savings to our customers. This is a milestone in motoring and many younger drivers won't remember the last time that diesel prices were lower than unleaded.
'While we are cutting diesel prices today, we will continue to look for opportunities to pass on savings on unleaded as soon as we can.'
A price war has been triggered after Morrisons cut the cost of diesel by up to 2p a litre. Tesco and Asda are also following suit both knocking off 2p a litre this afternoon, which is welcome news for drivers of the 10.7m diesel cars on Britain’s roads.
A small number of Morrison's petrol stations will still see diesel prices higher than petrol ones as a result of 'local competitive factors'.