Chevron is still tops in Atlanta GA, increasing its fuel market share by more than 8% over the past three years to a solid 14.3%, according to a study by Oil Price Information Service and New Image Marketing.
BP could easily be crowned the new king, however, if it successfully rebrands all the Amoco sites. The combined BP-Amoco market share is 16.4%, a 6.0% decline from 2001 despite only a 4.3% drop in outlet share.
The troubled Texaco brand saw the biggest drop in market share, sliding from the number two spot in 2001 to number six in this year's survey. Texaco was replaced by Quick Trip, which garnered a second-place share by averaging more than 340,000 gals/month at its 90-plus area outlets. Texaco's demise was to the benefit of the Shell brand, which saw its outlet share increase by 5.9% and its market share increase by 6.5% as it picked off many of the better Texaco stations.
The study, which compares volume and pricing data for all petroleum marketers in the greater Atlanta area from 2001 to 2004, shows total annual gallons have exploded by 18% over the four-year period to more than 2.7 billion gallons/year. At the same time, the average rack-to-retail margins slid 1 cent/gallon, reflecting continued margin destruction from hypermarketers like BJ's, Costco, and Sam's. Kroger, for example, had no gasoline-selling outlets in 2001 but now has nearly 3% market share.
The 48-page study provides rankings by outlets, volume, margins, estimated profits, wholesale pricing comparisons, and brand power rankings. For more information or to obtain a copy, access www.opisnet.com/retail/marketevaluator.asp.