LONDON (Reuters) - It takes a lot for a London banker to walk past a shiny fleet of modern cars every day and not buy one. Something like a credit crunch.

While casual visitors came out in force to the Motorexpo car show in the heart of London's banking hub of Canary Wharf this week, buyers were a rare breed.

"Everybody is holding their breath at the moment to see how it all pans out," said Simon Knaggs who works for Citigroup Inc .

He, like a dozen other visitors Reuters talked to at the show, had come simply to have a look at the latest models, with no intention of buying one.

"A lot of the cars are quite expensive," said a Bank of New York employee, chiming with other on-lookers.

London's bankers and traders are having to resist the urge to splash out as banks continue to cut jobs and the future of their industry hangs in the balance after a US housing crisis contaminated global markets.

A sales representative for a well-known German car manufacturer at the show said one of her clients from Citi had been seriously considering buying a car for eight months but pulled out at the last minute because he had been sacked.

She added that sales were slightly down compared to last year at her dealership in Canary Wharf and she expected the decline to reach 10 or 15 percent in six months' time.

Stephane Carrier, who works in risk advisory at nearby Barclays Capital of Barclays plc., said there were fewer dealers at this year's show than in 2007.

The 20-plus exhibitors on the square between HSBC Holdings plc. and Citi skyscrapers and in the adjacent tower include such iconic makers as Alfa Romeo, Jaguar and James Bond's favourite Aston Martin, with a Sunseeker yacht and Morgan roadsters of vintage design adding glamour to the display.

Some exhibitors, like Mercedes-Benz, who sold three cars in one morning, sounded upbeat about this year's show.

-A Mercedes-Benz representative put that down to the good value of the maker's cars compared to many other dealers'.