Car-buying plans 'stall'
Updated on 01 September 2008
The new 58 car number plates are available but vehicle-buying plans seem to have stalled.
The number of people planning to buy a car over the next six months is at a three-year low, according to a survey by Sainsbury's Finance.
About 6.85 million people intend to buy a car between September 2008 and February 2009, a slight dip on the 6.86 million who planned purchases in the previous six months. About 5.1 million plan to buy a used car while about 1.45 million plan to buy a new one.
Total spending for the next six months is estimated at £49.6 billion - a £2.1 billion increase on the figure for the period September 2007 to February 2008.
About 1.68 million people plan to spend more than £10,000 on a vehicle, while 405,000 are prepared to fork out more than £21,000.
Based on responses from 2,008 people, the survey showed that people in south east England planned to spend the most on cars in the next six months - £10.8 billion. In contrast Welsh consumers intend to spend only £581 million.
As many as 30% of people in East Anglia are planning a buy a car between now and the end of February 2009. Those least tempted into showrooms are those living in north east England, with only 8% of them planning a purchase.
North east England and the East Midlands have seen the biggest fall in the number of people planning to buy a car compared with the period March-August 2008.
Steven Baillie, head of loans at Sainsbury's Finance, said: "Unsurprisingly, given the economic doom and gloom that has dominated much of the media for the past few months, we see little change in the number of people looking to buy a car since our last index in March this year.
"We've been conducting our car-buying index now for the past five years and our findings would certainly reflect the economy's current uncertainty, with one million fewer potential car buyers than 12 months ago. One good bit of news for the industry though is that those people who do want to purchase a car are willing to spend an average of £300 more than they were six months ago."
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