The number of people planning to buy a car has dipped to a four-year low, it has been revealed.
And the amount consumers intend to spend on a new or used motor has also fallen, a survey by Sainsbury's Finance found.
The company, which looks at car buying intentions over six-month periods, said that 6.33 million people plan a purchase between March and August 2009.
This is down from the 6.85 million figure for September 2008 to February 2009 and the lowest six-monthly figure since 2005.
The amount people intend to spend on new or used cars over the next six months is £42.3 billion, or £6,683 per person on average, which compares with £49.6 billion, or £7,239 per person, for the last six months.
For the period March-August 2009, 1.33 million are looking to buy a brand new car.
Around 1.42 million anticipate spending more than £10,000 on a car, with 327,000 prepared to fork out more than £21,000.
As many as 21% of people in the West Midlands plan to change their car in the next six months - up 8% on the figure for this region over the last six months.
In contrast, just 4% of people in East Anglia intend to purchase a new or used car over the next six months, a huge dip on the region's figure of 30% for the period September 2008 to February 2009.
Steven Baillie, head of loans at Sainsbury's Finance, said: "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."
