Mar 13 2011
Essence: the French consume less
The French will not endure forever rising fuel prices, without changing their consumption habits. According to an Ifop poll published Sunday in the South West, 47% of respondents intend to reduce their consumption now if gasoline prices continue to climb.
Consequence of the soaring price of oil, those fuel have reached record highs last week. A liter of unleaded 95 has sold 1.50 euros on average in the hexagon, and a liter of diesel 1.54 euros, said earlier this week the Directorate General for Energy and Climate (DGEC ). Some stations even offered Paris a liter of unleaded fuel to 1.8 euro.
If consumers incorporate more and more since 2005, the idea of an inexorable rise in fuel prices, 1.5 euro per liter of diesel remains for many a symbolic threshold beyond which they consume as much. Only 15% of respondents put this threshold at a level greater than 1.5 euro per liter, said the survey. Jean-Louis Schilansky, president of the French Union of Petroleum Industries (Ufip), makes the same observation. He recalled that in 2008 when fuel prices had also risen sharply, the consomamation was down 3% once this threshold is crossed guaranteed unsecured personal loan.
Not lower taxes
The decision to reduce its consumption or not, however, depends partly on the level of life. 40% of workers have thus been limited.In contrast, managers and professionals are more likely (14%) than average (11%) said they will not alter their habits, whatever the price of a liter. For many, the level of fuel consumption is also strongly constrained by the lifestyle.
Faced with soaring prices, the government this week but ruled out any cut in gasoline taxes could reduce the transport budget of the French. "You can take steps this guy at a time when we must take into public finances," ruled the Economy Minister Christine Lagarde. It was therefore confined to advise the French to buy the morning and follow rules of conduct to reduce, even at the margin, the price at the pump.
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