Hello and welcome to the latest edition of FuelWatcher!

FuelWatch in May
Well, May certainly proved to be an interesting month for FuelWatchers!

Perhaps of greatest interest to FuelWatchers was the announcement of the commercial Alliance between Coles Myer Ltd (CML) and Shell on 17 May 2003.  In an effort to appreciate how this new Alliance will affect fuel prices and FuelWatchers, I have summarised some of the central points from the Shell Media Release entitled: Customers the Winners from Coles Myer - Shell Alliance.  If you would like to read the release in full, click here.  Also see Damian Reid's views concerning the Alliance in his “What's News” article.

• The CML and Shell Alliance will eventually operate a network of 584 service stations across Australia and, according to Coles Myer Chief Executive Officer John Fletcher, will offer "customers a fuel discount when they make purchases over a certain amount at Coles, Bi-Lo and Liqourland". 
• The proposed price cut will be a "cents per litre" discount on fuel purchased from Alliance sites.
• As part of the Alliance, CML will set fuel and shop prices at the stations it operates and Shell will be the exclusive fuel supplier and will provide the service station property.
• More than 80% of CML supermarkets (Coles and Bi-Lo) will be within 5 kilometres of an Alliance site.

Other important news this month....
FuelWatch conducted an Online User Survey on the 9 May and received an amazing response.  All of the comments given in the survey have been taken on board and have been used to help shape our vision for FuelWatch.  Thanks once again to those who took part!  Several of the most interesting survey results are listed below.
1. 65% of premium service FuelWatchers visited FuelWatch or used FuelWatch services daily.
3. 88% of users described the quality of information provided by FuelWatch to be “Excellent” or “Good”.
4. 85% of users consider www.fuelwatch.com.au a "user friendly" site.
5. Nearly 50% of users learnt about FuelWatch from a "news story".

FuelWatch ran a QBD Special Offer for all opt in users, offering a $10 discount on any QBD product.  The feedback from this offer has been fantastic and we hope that the QBD offer will be the first of many special deals for FuelWatch members. To all those who accepted the QBD special offer, Happy Reading!

And finally, in response to recent feedback enquires, I would like to clarify the collection process and availability of FuelWatch PULP and LPG Prices.  As with all fuel prices presented on FuelWatch, FuelWatch PULP and LPG prices are collected manually from service station price boards by our driving staff.  Unfortunately, in some cases, service stations do not display PULP and LPG prices on the price boards and therefore we can not collect the prices to use on the FuelWatch website.  For those FuelWatcher's particularly interested in PULP or LPG prices, we suggest you encourage the managers of your local service stations to display PULP and LPG prices on their price boards. The more prices available on price boards... The more prices available on FuelWatch!

So May has been both an eventful and progressive month for Fuelwatch.
I look forward to your feedback so we can together shape the future of FuelWatch. 

Until next month, continue to enjoy the savings!

Bernadette Murray
Marketing Manager
bmurray@fuelwatch.com.au

Damien Reid, our guest editor, with more fascinating news on the Fuel and Auto front.
Supermarkets Join Petrol Price War.
Forget the oil companies battling for your dollar at the petrol bowser, Australia’s two largest supermarket chains will soon be in full price-war mode offering super-cheap petrol up to 10 cents a litre below the average price.
[Read more]

400 Years to Cover Costs of Hybrid Ownership.
Malaysian car manufacturer, Proton has claimed that it would take over 400 years for owners of hybrid, petrol-electric powered cars to recover the cost of purchase compared to a conventional four-cylinder car.
[Read more]

New Car Reviews proudly supplied by News Limited.
Its the Super Coopers.
The latest Mini Coopers are the real stars in this year's remake of The Italian Job.
[Read more]

Surviving the fast-track trial.
Take three busloads of journalists, two dozen new Liberty sedans and wagons and a tiring but charismatic racetrack. What does it prove? Not a lot other than Subaru's Japanese management had bucket-loads of confidence in its new cars.
[Read more]

Some innovations from Gizmo magazine...
Black Spot Road Angel - accident prevention technology
As the name suggests, Road Angel keeps "watch from above" by using a GPS-based system to alert the driver when known danger areas lie ahead.
[Read more]

Hydrogen engines to out perform gasoline
BMW's Dr. Burkhard Göschel recently told the 24th International Engine Symposium in Vienna that the hydrogen-powered combustion engine is superior in its power and performance potential to a current gasoline engine, and that a 7 series BMW running hydrogen will be available within a few years.
[Read more]

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

Brisbane	Service Station Shell   Address corner Kessels Road & Macgregor Road Suburb Upper Mt Gravatt Average Price for month 68.0
Sydney	Service Station Caltex Address corner Hume Highway and Orchard Road Suburb Bass Hill Average Price for month 79.4
Melbourne	Service Station Metro Fuel Address Corner Manningham Road and Bulleen Road Suburb Bulleen Average Price for month 95.4
Adelaide	Service Station Mobil Address corner The Golden Way and Sunnybrook Drive Suburb Wynn Vale Average Price for month 81.2
Perth	Service Station Independent Address corner Rockingham Road and Lee Road Suburb Naval Base Average Price for month 81.1

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.
 

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