Welcome to the New Year edition of FuelWatcher. This is the first edition for 2002 and will combine both our January and February newsletters. This FuelWatcher is jam packed full of exciting news and new developments.

Great news for Australian motorists is the recent alliance between FuelWatch and the Seven Network. Starting last week on the Sunrise breakfast show, channel 7 began broadcasting their own FuelWatch service. I believe this is a great step towards a more transparent marketplace and is another way FuelWatch is working to get the Australian motorist a better deal.

Guest Motoring Editor - Damien Reid

We are privileged this month to have guest motoring editor, Damien Reid. Damien has been a professional motoring journalist since 1988 and has written for the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mirror, Sunday Telegraph and The Australian. He has also acted as media manager and sponsorship manager for various motorsport competitors in the World Superbike Championship, World 500cc, Australian V8Supercar, Australian NASCAR and Australian Formula Three racing.

Damien has provided a wide range of stories on topics like fuel consumption and the new "hybrid" electric cars. All the stories can be found in What's News?

As part of our commitment to constantly improving your FuelWatch service, we will be launching a new service for Service Station operators. This will give Service Station operators the chance to update their prices whenever they change while giving more Service Stations from other areas in Australia the chance to participate. For more details on this new service click here.

Prior to Christmas we ran the FuelWatcher Christmas survey and gave away 20 secret Santa gift vouchers and the latest model Ericsson mobile phone. Congratulations to all our secret Santa winners and to Steve Flemming from NSW the winner of the Ericsson phone.

And last but not least I would like to welcome the new members of the FuelWatch team, Adrian Launchbury, Conrad Woolston and Kymberley McMahon who have all joined the team in the last few weeks. Welcome aboard!

Matt Forman
National Manager
mforman@fuelwatch.com.au

This month's articles are presented by our guest Motoring editor - Damien Reid -

Syd-Bris-Syd On Less Than $20 - We Did It
With the airfare war in our skies forcing prices for one-way travel between the major capital cities down to $66, is flying really cheaper than driving at today's petrol prices?.[read more]

Report Backs Fuelstar Claims
An after market product which claims to provide a cleaner burn for high mileage engines as well as allow leaded cars to run smoothly on regular unleaded petrol has been backed by an independent report..[read more]

Honda Unveils Hydrogen Hybrid Car
While all the talk at the Detroit Auto Show this month has been about fuel-cell vehicles and reducing petrol consumption, over in Los Angeles at the Greater LA Auto Show, Honda let its products do the talking with the unveiling of its latest fuel-cell vehicle..[read more]

US Fuel Economy Inherits Key Political Role
Fuel economy is shaping up to become a burning political issue with the United States Bush Administration, following an announcement by the US Energy Secretary... [read more]

Mazda Freshens 626, Adds Auto Option To MX-5
With a new, re-badged 626 - to be simply called "6" - ready for launch and the Australian developed turbo MX-5 SP just about to hit the streets, Mazda has struck while the iron was hot and beefed up these two model lines just before the big guns hit town...[read more]

The average, lowest and the highest prices for last month in each city were:

The price leading service stations for each city this month were:

Brisbane	Service Station Liberty Address Tufnell Road Suburb Banyo Average Price for month 68.5
Sydney	Service Station Independent Address Windsor Road Suburb Vineyard Average Price for month 73.5
Melbourne	Service Station United Address Somerton Road Suburb Somerton Average Price for month 75.2
Adelaide	Service Station Liberty Address Port Road Suburb Woodville Average Price for month 75.5
Perth	Service Station Liberty Address William Street Suburb Beckenham Average Price for month 77.5

FuelWatch is committed to helping Australian motorists get a better deal on fuel by providing them with free and easily accessible information on fuel prices.

Reproduction of the whole or part of this email constitutes an infringement of copyright. All information published in this email is intended to be used for your personal use only and can not be used for commercial use without the prior written consent of FuelWatch Pty Ltd. For data sales enquiries please contact sales@fuelwatch.com.au