ASDA has given motorists yet more cheer with its 10th consecutive cut in petrol prices.

Today’s latest cut – to 90.9p per litre – is the lowest petrol prices have been since April 2007. Diesel has also dropped to 105.9p per litre.

ASDA’s new prices, the lowest in the UK, are effective across all of its 172 forecourts from this morning (19 November).

But, while ASDA continues to do what is right for consumers, other petrol retailers are facing mounting pressure to cut their own higher prices. Media reports quote pump prices averaging 95.16p for petrol at the weekend.

Cash-strapped shoppers are being given a reason to celebrate – ASDA has today halved the price of an award-winning Champagne.

A bottle of Francois de Rozay Brut – which was commended in this year’s Decanter awards and is exclusive to ASDA – is being cut from £19.98 to just £10 at all stores.

Meanwhile, for those on a festive budget, ASDA is offering the lowest price in the UK on a sparkling rosé declared one of the best in the world. Griffith Park Sparkling Rosé, at only £5 a bottle, has just received a gold award for the second year running in the Oscars of the sparkling wine world – the prestigious Effervescents du Monde competition.

The price commitments come as shoppers continue to stock up on Champagne and sparkling wine from ASDA despite the credit crunch. Sales across the two are up 20 per cent year on year at the supermarket, with ASDA expecting sales to remain strong over Christmas.

On the day the Bank of England cut interest rates by a massive 1.5 per cent, ASDA announced it would be doing its bit to help Britain’s hard-pressed consumers by dropping the price of unleaded petrol yet again by a further two pence per litre.

This is the ninth time the supermarket has cut the price of petrol since July.

The supermarket’s new national price of 92.9p a litre is the lowest in the UK and will be available at all 172 of ASDA’s forecourts from tomorrow morning (Friday 7th November).

• 1000 more rollbacks announced today, plus hundreds of multi-buys
• VAT free TVs and DVD players on offer this weekend only (reduced in price by 17.5%)
• Plus market leading prices across the entire store including – £1 Christmas puds, pork joints reduced to £2 per kg, £8 Sony Ericsson mobile phones, £50 sat navs, and a range of spirits from £5

ASDA today (Thursday) announced the first wave of its aggressive Christmas price cutting campaign – bringing further relief to millions of beleaguered shoppers who are struggling to makes ends meet in the run up to Christmas.

The announcement by ASDA is part of the supermarket’s commitment to make Christmas even more affordable for its customers. A thousand new rollbacks will hit stores from today, adding to more than 4000 price cuts previously announced in November.

ASDA is preparing for Christmas by investing £16 million in a festive ‘thank you’ package for every one of its 165,000 colleagues working in its stores and distribution centres across the UK.

As ASDA gears up for the busiest trading period of the year, it is investing in giving every colleague, including the supermarket’s Seasonal Squad workers – a 11,000-strong group of permanent temps who work for the retailer for ten weeks each year during the holiday seasons – a £20 Christmas gift card to spend in its stores, £5 towards a Christmas party and a free festive meal.

ASDA welcomes Ministerial acceptance of the FSA’s proposal for a voluntary ban on six food colourings linked to an increased risk of hyperactivity in children.

The supermarket is renewing its call for other manufacturers and retailers to follow its lead by committing to the removal of all artificial colours, flavours and flavour enhancers.

Earlier this year, ASDA became the first UK supermarket to remove artificial colours and flavours and flavour enhancers (such as monosodium glutamate) from its 9,000 own label food and soft drink products following a £30 million investment. Other UK supermarkets and big brands still have a substantial way to go.

ASDA today announced it had delivered its tenth successive quarter of outperforming the market with comp sales (like-for-like), excluding petrol, increasing 6.9% (up from 6% in Q2 and 5% in Q1).

Sales growth continued to be driven by a combination of increased customer numbers (in particular AB shoppers) and higher basket spend.

Despite the tough trading environment ASDA grew total sales in the ‘high single digits’ excluding petrol for the period up to 30th September. Figures published this week by TNS show ASDA is growing twice as fast as the UK market.

A report commissioned by ASDA Supermarket:

The following are the key findings of the report.

· The overall predicted spend by Britons in the run up to Christmas is £10.6bn

· We expect households to spend £300million less compared to last year amidst a historic low in consumer confidence and declining spending power. This means that on average each household will spend £399 on Christmas, down from £413 in 2007.

· Despite the overall cut in Christmas spending, households will spend more for food this year on average £105 compared to £97 over Christmas 2007 Consequently, that means households will reduce their spending on big ticket non-food items such as household electronics etc.

On Wednesday (November 5, 2008), the £12 little black dress will be going on sale in George at ASDA and according to research by the supermarket, as the average consumer will have no more than £50 to spend on eveningwear this winter, making sure affordable clothing is accessible to everyone couldn’t be more important to the British public this Christmas.

With many fashion retailers concerned about how tough trading will be over the coming Christmas season, George is confident that the £12 dress will be flying off the shelves this week as it’s been seen all over the catwalks and is perfect for the party season. Women can wear it time and time again on any occasion.