There will be a decline in loans to buy cars between now and August if the Sainsbury’s Bank car buying index is correct.

The supermarket says 26% of this year’s car buyers intend to borrow money as part of their purchase, but the total spend on new cars will drop by £16.2bn over the next six months.

The bank’s research looks at trends over six-month period. Its latest findings suggests the number of people planning to by a car between March and August will be 430,000 fewer at 7.65m, compared with September 2006 to February.

The research also reveals that over the next six months people intend to spend around £53.2bn on buying cars, a fall of £16.2bn from the last index.