If They Seriously Want To Cut Fuel Costs, They’d Go After Governments
Filling Stations Should Add Details Of Tax To Every Receipt
“Spikes in fuel prices cause immediate pain. A (100 mpg) target for 2025 would therefore make consumers less vulnerable”
That is an oxymoron of world-class standards
A group masquerading as a champion of the European consumer and which has links to Britain’s “Which?” organisation has come up with a choice piece of double-think to justify day-light robbery against motorists.
BEUC, which calls itself the European Consumer Organisation, wants European car manufacturers to spend billions to develop cars which can achieve around 100 mpg (2.8 l/km) by 2025, saying this will give motorists a big cut in the cost of fuel.
BEUC concedes that the project will cost the auto manufacturers billions and raise the price of new cars. Crucially, BEUC ignores the fact that tax is by far the biggest component of the price of petrol and diesel. Is this corrupt and wilful, or just plain stupid? If it seriously felt motorists’ pain, government tax would be the target. Forcing ever-higher fuel economy standards won’t do the trick, but it might be the death knell for car makers. All the non-German car manufacturers that specialise in selling small, fuel-efficient cars are teetering on the edge of financial crisis now.
The E.U. Commission has already said forcing ever higher fuel efficiency standards will raise the price of new vehicles considerably, but will generate such savings for the consumer and businesses that it will soon pay for itself. This, in the view of the blinkered geniuses at the Commission which gave us the euro, will also create a lot of high tech jobs in the auto industry.
BEUC said that higher oil prices will make driving a car less and less affordable unless the auto makers accelerate fuel efficiency. But the main reason for these crippling costs is the grotesque amount of tax levied. In Britain it is close to 80 per cent of the pump price. Wouldn’t you think that any organisation that seriously wanted to help motorists with their costs and quickly, would be telling governments to rein in their bloated budgets and save motorists from being ripped off? Remember that in the U.S. petrol taxes are much, much lower, about 12.5 per cent, so it is possible to be motorist and not be robbed blind.
Oxymoron
Monique Goyens, director general of BEUC had this comment to make on the issue.
“Spikes in fuel prices cause immediate and financial pain for many consumers. A target for 2025 would therefore make consumers less vulnerable towards significant increases in fuel prices, Goyens said, according to Reuters.
That is an oxymoron of world-class standards.
It’s tax, not the oil price, that’s bleeding motorists dry. If you want to help motorists BEUC, make slashing this tax a priority.
This kind of dopey thinking fills the media every time the price of fuel moves a couple of pennies. “Outrageous rip off” is heard from dim-witted consumer organisations, politicians and BBC journalists when oil companies are a bit slow in cutting their prices to follow wholesale markets. They fail to see the elephant in the room represented by government fuel tax, which is absolutely massive compared with miniscule price movements of the oil price.
Tax details on every receipt
Which? is a member of BEUC and has provided it with data which shows that fuel costs were the number one consumer worry in Britain. It apparently doesn’t know or care that the government tax take is so big.
I have asked Which? the following questions –
a) Are you behind BEUC’s campaign to force European car makers to produce cars in 2025 which average 100 mpg?
b) Given that in the U.K, (and by varying degrees across Europe) the price of petrol is almost 80 per cent government tax, isn’t it clear that fluctuations in the daily price, and improvements in fuel economy, are mere straws in the wind given the government take. Wouldn’t it make more sense if you were seriously on the side of the consumer, to demand the government cut its taxes on petrol and diesel by slashing their budgets?
c) If you don’t think that’s achievable in the short term, how about instigating a campaign to persuade filling stations to add details of the government tax take in every receipt, and do this across the board, to show just how much the consumer is paying to the government every time they fill up, or buy something in the shops? This transparency might transfer some anger about the price of petrol to its rightful destination, the government, and not take cheap shots at oil companies.
So far I’ve not had a reply. I’ll post it if it shows up.
response:
Silence from BEUC, which has about six press officers who won’t answer the phone or reply to emails. Thanks to Which? for replying.
“We have contributed to a BEUC paper discussing stricter car CO2 emissions by 2025 but not to any BEUC campaign looking to force European car makers to produce cars in 2025 which average 100 mpg.
Here, below, is what we said at the time when we responded to the BEUC paper on car emissions.
A Which? spokesperson said:
While it’s important that we look ahead to explore stricter targets for vehicle emissions, it’s essential that any future caps are fully assessed in terms of the financial impact on consumers, as well as the environment. Further to this, we want to see more rigorous testing on miles to the gallon claims, to provide more accurate information for consumers.”
Neil Winton – April 3 2013
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