07 September 2007
Britons will spend over £58 billion in the next six months on buying a new set of wheels and one in three will use car loans to help them with the cost, a new report has found.
According to the Sainsbury's Bank Car Buying Index, 7.85 million people intend to buy a new car between September 2007 and February 2008 - an increase of 200,000 on the previous six months.
The survey also found that one in three people looking to buy a car in the next six months will use car loans. Of the total amount of cash spent on buying a car around 18.5 per cent will be financed through personal loans - around £10.8 billion.
Steven Baillie of Sainsbury's Bank said: "It's interesting to see that the significant drop in the numbers looking to purchase cars witnessed back in March appears to have been a short-term dip, with our recent findings revealing an increase in people looking to purchase a car over the next half-year. The amount people are willing to spend on their car purchase is also up by an average of £500 on six months ago.
"Although there would appear to have been some recovery in consumer confidence, the most recent index still represents a decrease of over £10 billion in total spend on new cars compared with the same period a year ago."
