Number plates fail to prompt sales

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Vehicle-buying plans seem to have been put on hold despite the unveiling of the new 58 car number plates, according to a survey.

The study by Sainsbury's found the number of people planning to buy a car over the next six months is at a three-year low.

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.

A total of 5.1 million plan to buy a used car while about 1.45 million plan to buy a new one.

Based on responses from 2,008 people, the survey showed that people in south-east England plan to spend the most on cars in the next six months - £10.8 billion. In contrast Welsh consumers intend to spend only £581 million.

A spokesman for the company 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.

"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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