They are the collateral victims of the fuel price war. While large retailers generalize their operations at cost price and Totalenergies limits its prices to 1.99 euros per liter, independent service stations are experiencing a sharp drop in activity.
Drop in activity between 10% and 30%
“78% of the 2,400 independent stations in France saw their activity drop between 10% and 30% in September,” underlines Francis Pousse, president of the service stations and new energies sector of the Mobilians union.
In fact, 22% of the other plants, under the Totalenergies banner, can benefit from the maximum limit established by the French oil group. Operations that are beginning to have effects: fuel prices fell last week after having increased almost constantly since the beginning of July.
With a gap that is widening even further between large retailers and Totalénérgies: this Tuesday, October 3, the price of diesel per liter was almost 7 cents cheaper in Leclerc than in the Total network, according to our price list by brand.
New call for a compensation fund
A problematic situation for independents, who cannot charge the cost price:
“It’s not just rural stations, there are also large stations on the ring roads of big cities, with a dozen jobs at risk per station,” explains Francis Pousse.
A few days earlier, he explained on BFMTV that practicing cost pricing was equivalent to selling at a loss for independent service stations.
“The current definition of cost price is the purchase price. [auquel s’ajoute] transport. No way […] We do not take into account the induced costs, that is, the credit card commission, the cashier’s salary, depreciation, etc. You can imagine that for us this is not possible.”
“We are simply asking for a few cents per liter of unsold fuel, and estimates are currently being made to determine these volumes. An aid that would not take into account the loss of related activity, for example in ancillary sales of food and beverages, where the margin is greater than that of fuels,” observes Francis Pousse.
The Minister of SMEs, Olivia Grégoire, was open to this demand yesterday on Franceinfo and a meeting should be held in the coming days to determine the contours of this fund.
Beyond this specific aid, the minister announced the establishment of “a transition plan, which will be financed in the coming weeks” to support these stations in the deployment of electric charging stations and in the problem of washing.
The “Plein BFM” to find the cheapest station
To help you refuel your tank at a lower cost, you can consult our “Le Plein BFM” service, which provides you with a map of the cheapest service stations.
Also find our summary of average prices by brand, updated daily.
Source: BFM TV
