Thursday, April 30, 2009
Category:
Secured Loans
According to Sainsbury’s Finance, the number of people looking to purchase a car is at its lowest level since 2005.
The findings come as a result of Sainsbury’s six-monthly Car Buying Index, which keeps track of the number of prospective buyers. The volume peaked in September 2006; however there has since been a 1.75 million reduction. The number of people planning to purchase a car between March 2009 and August 2009 stands at 6.33 million, which is over half a million less than in the previous six-month period when it was recorded at 6.85 million.
In addition to a fall in the number of prospective car buyers, the index has also revealed that expected spending has also dropped significantly. It is anticipated that £42.3 billion will be spent on new cars in the next six months, which is £7.3 billion less than in the period between September 2008 and February 2009. Consumers who would like to purchase a new or second hand vehicle in the next 6 months may find that vehicles have never been such great value and that they could be acquired at a negotiated price. Some new cars are currently selling for less than half the list price.
Head of Loans at Sainsbury's Finance, Steven Baillie, commented: "Our latest car buying index, which has been running now for six years, sees a real dip in both the number of people who intend to buy a car and also in the amount of money they are intending to spend. For the first time in four years, we see the anticipated spend on new cars over the next half-year drop to a low of under £43 billion, representing a 39 percent decrease on the period for September 2006 to March 2009."
Of the people that intend to buy a car in the next six months, 24 percent will rely on a loan to cover at least some of the cost. An estimated 14.7 percent of the total amount of money that will be spent on purchasing vehicles will be obtained via personal loans to the value of £6.2 billion. This marks a £2.94 billion reduction on the preceding six months.
The research also shows a 600,000 reduction in the number of people planning to buy a second-hand car. Only 4.47 million people will be looking to do so during the next six months compared to 5.10 million in the previous six months. The number of people intending to buy a new car is also down on the previous period and stands at 1.33 million. In terms of the amount of money spent on cars, 1.42 million people intend to hand over in excess of £10,000 while 327,000 plan to splash out over £21,000.
Where the geographic divide across Britain is concerned, the West Midlands is on track for an 8 percent increase in the number of people purchasing a car over the next six months. This region now also boasts higher spenders than the South East, with total expected expenditure at £9.3 million. The region with the most significant decline in the number of people planning to buy a car is East Anglia, which incidentally also has a predicted outlay of just £116 million.
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Those that are looking to take advantage of current prices in the car market, but do not have the money at hand to do so, may wish to consider taking out a secured loan. One of many options to finance a car, this could be used to cover the cost of that much desired vehicle, whether it be new or old. Prospective car buyers with outstanding debts could also take the opportunity to consolidate these at the same time. It should however be remembered when using a
secured loan to consolidate existing debt, that repaying borrowing over a longer term may increase the amount paid back overall and extend the repayment period of debts.
