Low Fuel Prices Pique U.K. Car Buyersʼ Interest

The fall in fuel prices has a significant number of people in the U.K. considering making their next car purchase sooner than they planned.

A survey of 1,000 car owners by the online website webuyanycar.com found 5% thinking about advancing their vehicle purchases.

The website says using industry statistics, this could mean up to 485,000 additional new and used cars could be purchased over the next year, giving a £4.3 billion ($6.2 billion) boost to the automotive industry.

More than 15% of those surveyed indicated they might opt for bigger and better-equipped models and said they’d be less concerned about fuel economy next time they bought a car.

The lower fuel prices also could signify an increase in traffic with more than 13% of owners saying they would go on longer journeys and use their car more often.

U.K. drivers have abandoned neither the environment nor the need to save cash, however, as more than 50% of respondents still think fuel economy is important and 28% say fuel economy still will rank highly in choosing a specific make and model to buy.

But the survey uncovered skepticism about the dip in fuel prices, with more than 30% of respondents saying they thought lower oil prices are a blip and the cost of fuel would rise again in the near future.

It also found fuel prices would need to stay low for some time before car owners decided motoring costs would remain low long enough to change their view.

Almost 37% say they would use the savings from lower fuel costs to add to their savings or spend it on other things.

Rich Evans, head of technical services-webuyanycar.com, says the last time fuel prices were as low as they are now was in May 2009.

“Our survey found that we could see more people using the extra money this puts in their pocket to buy a new car, and this can only help new- and used-car sales this year,” Evans says in a statement.

Webuyanycar.com allows people to sell their car without the pressure of going to a dealer or the hassle of selling it privately.