Sunoco has brought environment-friendly gasoline to the Ontario market with the launch of an ethanol-enhanced lineup at its more than 300 service stations across the province.
The Toronto-based company is the first gasoline retailer to offer this type of product in any major way in Ontario.
Sunoco has replaced all four grades of fuel with ethanol-enhanced versions, including its high-performance Ultra 94. They will be sold at the same retail price as their former regular gasolines. All of Sunoco’s new gasolines are marked with the EcoLogo, Environment Canada’s environmental product designation.
Ethanol-enhanced fuels are said to reduce emissions of carbon monoxide up to 30%, reduce unburned hydrocarbons and toxins and produce lower greenhouse-gas emissions.
Sunoco produces its own ethanol from Ontario corn at a plant in Chatham, Ont.
Haydn Northey, Sunoco marketing manager, says some small, unbranded stations and upi, a rural player which is 50% owned by Sunoco, have been marketing ethanol fuels for several years but none of the majors have stepped in.
He says regional retailers are leading the way in Canada, beginning with Vancouver-based Mohawk Oil which began selling ethanol-blended gasolines in 1980.
The major retailers will follow eventually, says Northey, because b.c. now has compulsory vehicle emissions testing in place and Ontario is expected to make it mandatory this year or next.
He says it has been shown that cars failing the emissions test in b.c. have passed after running with a couple of tanks of Mohawk’s fuel.
The effectiveness of the gasoline is even more evident in vehicles that are five to 10 years old, says Northey.
‘We were first off the block, but I certainly think other majors will be following,’ he says, adding gasoline is a ‘grudge purchase’ and therefore not a category that generates a great deal of loyalty.
Response from customers to the fuel has been extremely positive says Northey, and support from both domestic and foreign automotive manufacturers, who are themselves challenged to come up with more efficient, emission-reducing vehicles, has been strong.
The launch of Sunoco’s ethanol-enhanced fuel is taking the company to television, a medium it has not used for about a decade.
The campaign, from BAM Creative of Toronto, began earlier this month with a humorous 30-second spot.
In addition to the emission-reduction, the commercial touts ethanol-enhanced gas as being a natural antifreeze, with no additives needed.
Two other spots, one for Sunoco’s residential natural gas program and a branding spot, will be added to the mix to run through April.
Print or direct mail may be used to support the effort.
Northey says the new ethanol-enhanced fuel and a new loyalty program have increased Sunoco’s gasoline sales.
Last October, the company set up a loyalty program with the Canadian Automobile Association that gives members points towards their caa membership through the purchase of Sunoco products.
The association’s 1.7 million members in Ontario – one in four of the province’s drivers – have been driving this boom.
Sunoco is planning to start expanding its presence in Southern Ontario this year and Northey says the company, which has traditionally been strong in the suburban areas, is looking to add more urban sites.
