Whilst it’s all doom and gloom in the papers, our research suggests that, whilst budgets may be tighter, there are still a significant number of motorists looking to purchase both cars and financial products.

 Users are still visiting autotrader.co.uk to search for insurance products and we’ve seen a 25% increase in quotes in the last 4 months, suggesting that consumers may be searching more thoroughly for the best deal on insurance.

A similar number of users are looking for loans through the site and although applicants may be finding it harder to get credit there is still a demand for finance.

More interestingly, one in five people surveyed* said that they would use an unsecured personal loan to pay for their next car!

New Cars saw an 11%* rise in intention to buy and Used Cars a 4%* rise between February and May 2008.  For the top 20 most searched for vehicles, used car prices fell by an average of just 3.7% from January 2008 to May 2008, down from a 2.2% drop in the same period year on year. In fact, we’ve seen an increase in searches for luxury, sports and 4x4 cars, including high end brands such as Jaguar and Bentley. Meanwhile, searches on makes such as Audi, Honda and Volkswagen remain in line with annual trends.

Sources:

* Auto Trader surveys May 2008