Driving Change Together.
Responsibly
Autotrader Group plc
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2026
is the UK’s largest
automotive marketplace
and leading digital
platform for the
Autotrader’s purpose is Driving Change Together.
Responsibly. The Company uses advanced data
science, artificial intelligence and scalable technology
to improve how vehicles are bought and sold, while
building stronger partnerships with its customers and
the wider automotive ecosystem. Autotrader’s platform
leverages significant amounts of proprietary data and
machine learning models to power pricing, demand
forecasting and personalised consumer experiences.
These capabilities enable retailers and manufacturers
to make better decisions, improve performance and
respond to real-time market dynamics.
Autotrader is increasingly digitising the car buying
journey, from search and discovery through to financing
and purchase, enabling more of the buying journey to
take place online. Alongside this, it is using its data and
influence to support the transition to electric vehicles.
This is all underpinned by a values-led culture that
empowers its people to develop and perform, enabling
continuous innovation across its platform and products.
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53
Governance
54
Chair’s introduction
55
Governance overview
57
Board of Directors
59
Corporate governance statement
64
Report of the Nomination Committee
66
Report of the Audit Committee
72
Report of the Corporate Responsibility Committee
73
Directors’ remuneration report
83
Directors’ report
87
Financial statements
88
Independent auditor’s report to the
members of Autotrader Group plc
101
Consolidated income statement
102
Consolidated statement of
comprehensive income
103
Consolidated balance sheet
104
Consolidated statement of changes in equity
105
Consolidated statement of cash flows
106
Notes to the Consolidated financial statements
135
Company balance sheet
136
Company statement of changes in equity
137
Notes to the Company financial statements
141
Unaudited five-year record
142
Shareholder information
01
Strategic report
02
Highlights of the year
03
At a glance
04
Chair’s statement
05
CEO’s statement
08
Our strategy
10
Market overview
12
How we create value
13
Section 172(1) statement
17
Key performance indicators
20
Non-financial and sustainability information statement
21
Financial review
24
Working responsibly
43
How we manage risk
46
Principal risks and uncertainties
plc.autotrader.co.uk
Autotrader Insight
Strategic report
P02-52
02
Highlights of the year
03
At a glance
04
Chair’s statement
05
CEO’s statement
08
Our strategy
10
Market overview
12
How we create value
13
Section 172(1) statement
17
Key performance indicators
20
Non-financial and sustainability information statement
21
Financial review
24
Working responsibly
43
How we manage risk
46
Principal risks and uncertainties
How our performance, purpose, strategy and
risk management are shaping the long-term
value we deliver for our stakeholders.
Strategic report
Governance
Financial statements
Autotrader Group plc
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2026
01
Highlights of the year
Continuing to deliver value
for our stakeholders
Operational
Cultural
Financial
72%
of employees
proud to work
at Autotrader
(2025: 91%)
£989.2m
returned to shareholders over
the past three years
£393m
Group operating profit
(+4% YoY)
£418m
Cash generated from
operations (+5% YoY)
34.17p
Basic earnings
per share (+8% YoY)
£624m
Group revenue
(+4% YoY)
2026
2025
2024
£250.3m
£275.7m
£463.2m
6x
more time spent on
Autotrader than all
our main competitors
combined (2025: 6x)
13,942
The average number of
retailer forecourts in the
period was down 0.5%
to 13,942 (2025: 14,013)
81.7m
monthly visits
(2025: 81.6m)
548m
monthly minutes
(2025: 557m)
RECORD NUMBERS OF BUYERS USING OUR PLATFORM
RETURNED TO SHAREHOLDERS
HELPING RETAILERS
TO POWER THEIR BUSINESSES
DIGITAL INCLUSION
Tackling digital exclusion through a new partnership
with the national charity, Good Things Foundation and
Greater Manchester Combined Authority (‘GMCA’).
The output will create a five-year roadmap to help
shape future policy.
20%
of total staff are
ethnically diverse
(2025: 19%)
Autotrader Group plc
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2026
Strategic report
Governance
Financial statements
02
CURIOUS
DETERMINED
COMMUNITY
HUMBLE
ADAPTABLE
DECISIVE
At a glance
COMMUNITY
We connect and understand
each other, respect our
differences and focus on
finding common ground.
We are committed to making
a difference in the communities
around us.
Why we exist
Our purpose:
Driving Change
Together. Responsibly
guides
our strategy, our ways of
working and our culture.
How we work
Whilst it lacks precision, our culture is often described internally as ‘doing
the right thing’, which comes through as ‘Responsibly’ in our purpose:
Who we are
Our values are the guiding characteristics that
underpin our culture. They are embedded into
our ways of working and core to our success:
What we do
Our strategy has three focus areas that
are closely interconnected, with working
responsibly embedded into everything we do:
CURIOUS
We look up, listen, think beyond the
obvious and find the Autotrader way.
We’re restless and always thinking
about what’s next.
DETERMINED
We get stuck in and have the
conviction to make big things
happen. We persevere and aren’t
scared to do the hard thing.
DECISIVE
We crack on, trusting our instincts,
data and experience. We sometimes
disagree, but we always commit and
deliver together.
ADAPTABLE
Our ability to change and change
again is our greatest strength. We act
for the long term, accept uncertainty
and challenge everything.
HUMBLE
We share in our failures as well as
our successes. We earn our place
and take nothing for granted.
WORKING
AS ONE AUTOTRADER
WORKING
IN PARTNERSHIP
WORKING
AS OWNERS
Working responsibly
Be a responsible business
Marketplace
Be the best
place to buy
and sell a car
Platform
Be the industry’s
data and
technology
platform
Digital retailing
Be the enabler
for more to be
done online
Strategic report
Governance
Financial statements
Autotrader Group plc
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2026
03
INTRODUCTION
Autotrader delivered growth in revenue and
profit this year, despite more challenging market
conditions, with continued strong demand and
constrained supply, added to by increased cost
pressure for retailers and manufacturers. During
the year, we have maintained our large and
highly engaged audience, strong brand trust and
the network effects between buyers and sellers
on our platform. Our competitive position has
strengthened when measured against other
automotive marketplaces. This market position
ensures we are well-placed to navigate both cyclical
macroeconomic shifts and the long-term trends
shaping the future of the automotive industry.
AI is one of these long-term trends, presenting
opportunity for both our business and the wider
industry. We are already seeing the application
of AI improve the buyer experience, automate
retailer tasks and enhance colleague productivity.
To support these we’re actively using over 50
AI models across our operations, combining
advanced Large Language Models with our own
proprietary, real-time dataset. While AI will change
how many users begin their research, buying a car
remains a complex, time-consuming journey for a
high-value item, where inventory changes daily. We
believe a trusted, up-to-date information source
will remain an important part of the journey and
Autotrader is well placed to continue in this role.
For retailers, we are increasingly a software
and data platform that supports profitable
retailing from sourcing through to sale. In the
last financial year, we included our AI-powered
Co-Driver product within our pricing and
packaging event, continued the roll-out of
Deal Builder, and launched Buying Signals.
Having received increased levels of feedback
in November on the roll-out of some of these
products, we remain committed to delivering
value to customers and will continue to listen
and evolve our product offering.
On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank all
our colleagues for their continued dedication,
professionalism and commitment, through
what has been a challenging year.
RESULTS OVERVIEW
In the core Autotrader business, we achieved
revenues of £585.3m, an increase of 4% on 2025.
Group revenue also increased 4% to £624.3m
(2025: £601.1m) with Autorama revenue
contributing £39.0m (2025: £36.3m). Operating
profit in the core Autotrader business was
£408.0m (2025: £394.0m), up 4% on last year,
with an operating profit margin of 70% (2025:
70%). Autorama saw reduced operating losses
of £2.0m (2025: £4.3m). Group operating profit
increased by 4% to £392.7m (2025: £376.8m),
reflecting the increase in revenue, reduced
Chair’s statement
We are already seeing the
application of AI improve the
buyer experience, automate
retailer tasks and enhance
colleague productivity.
Matt Davies
Chair
BOARD CHANGES
Megan Quinn and Adam Jay were appointed
to the Board with effect from 1 July 2025,
strengthening the Board’s technology and
digital marketplace experience. Both have
also joined the Audit, Remuneration, Corporate
Responsibility and Nomination Committees,
and at the conclusion of the 2025 AGM, Megan
assumed the role of Chair of the Corporate
Responsibility Committee. Their appointments
follow a comprehensive search led by the
Nomination Committee, supported by an
external search firm, and form an integral part
of the Board’s long-term succession planning.
These changes mark a significant refresh of the
Board following the scheduled completion of
several Non-Executive Directors’ third three-year
terms since the Company’s IPO in 2015. The Board
now benefits from a balanced mix of technology,
marketplace, retail and financial services
experience, positioning the Company well
for the years ahead.
We would also like to acknowledge Catherine
Faiers, our Chief Operating Officer, who stepped
down from the Board on 9 December 2025.
Catherine has taken up the role of Chief Executive
Officer at Moonpig plc, an opportunity that is
well deserved. Catherine made a significant
contribution to the business, and we are extremely
grateful for her leadership and impact. While we
are sad to see her leave, she departs with the very
best wishes of everyone at Autotrader.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The AGM will be held on 16 July 2026 at 11am in our
Manchester office.
Matt Davies
Chair
21 May 2026
operating loss in Autorama, and broadly
maintaining Group central costs at £13.3m (2025:
£12.9m). Group operating profit margin remained
consistent at 63% (2025: 63%). Basic earnings per
share increased 8% to 34.17p (2025: 31.66p).
UPDATED CAPITAL POLICY, WITH ACCELERATED
SHARE BUYBACK PROGRAMME
Autotrader has a long track record of strong
cash generation which we expect to continue.
Autotrader’s capital allocation policy continues
to focus on investment in the business supporting
growth, while returning approximately one third
of net income to shareholders through dividends.
We are proposing a final dividend of 7.8 pence
per share (2025: 7.1 pence per share) giving total
dividends of 11.6 pence per share for the year
(2025: 10.6 pence per share). In the year, we have
accelerated our share buyback programme,
purchasing 58.5 million shares in the year, 6.6% of
issued share capital. At year end we had drawn
£165m of our debt facility, increasing leverage
up to 0.3x. Combined with dividends we have
returned £463.2m (2025: £275.7m) to shareholders.
The Board believes the prevailing Autotrader share
price does not reflect the Company’s underlying
fundamentals or long-term prospects. Despite a
rapidly changing technology environment, our
current competitive position has strengthened, we
are adapting our car buying experience to evolve
with consumer habits, and we remain comfortable
our investment in technology is sufficient to take
full advantage of AI. We do recognise that we have
had a challenging end to the year which impacts
growth in both 2026 and 2027, although we have
seen a gradual increase in some of our core
metrics as we’ve entered the new financial year.
With this in mind, in 2027 we currently expect to
return £600m to shareholders. This will be through
purchasing c.£500m of shares (we will be seeking
authority to purchase up to 15% of issued share
capital at our AGM), as well as paying a third
of net income in dividends. Based on current
assumptions, this would increase leverage to
c.1.0x. In aggregate this returns over £1bn to
shareholders over the course of 2026 and 2027.
Strategic report
Governance
Financial statements
Autotrader Group plc
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2026
04
INTRODUCTION
Our purpose, Driving Change Together.
Responsibly, guides how we use our brand,
technology and data to improve the UK
automotive market.
We can do this better than any other business
for car buyers, sellers and retailers in the UK. The
market is large, the transaction is important and
often filled with complexity for millions of buyers
and sellers every year.
Our strategy has three focus areas: our
marketplace; our platform; and digital retailing.
These areas are closely interconnected, as
our platform and digital retailing capabilities
build on and contribute to the strength of our
marketplace. Over time we have embedded our
proprietary data and services into the systems
and processes used by both our retailer partners
and wider automotive related businesses.
I would like to thank all my colleagues
across Autotrader for their commitment and
professionalism throughout the year. It has
been a demanding period, and your contribution
and teamwork has been humbling.
OUR MARKET-LEADING POSITION
For much of the past 50 years under the
Autotrader brand, we have built a large, highly
engaged audience that is difficult for others to
replicate. This year, on average each month, we
saw over nine million unique visitors, averaging
548 million (2025: 557 million) minutes of activity
on site. Through the strength of our brand, the
large majority of these buyers came direct to
Autotrader: over 80% of our visits were either
direct to our mobile apps, direct to our URL or
through searches for “Autotrader”; 13% were from
organic search; and only 4% from paid for web
traffic. Currently less than 1% of audience comes
from generative AI chat assistants.
In the year our competitive position has
strengthened. We were 11x larger (2025: 10x) than
our nearest competitor in terms of time on site,
which was against a collection of four brands.
We were 22x larger (2025: 23x) than the next
largest individual brand and six times more
time was spent on Autotrader than all our main
competitors combined. 67% of our audience was
unique to Autotrader, not visiting these other sites.
Retailer numbers softened slightly during the year,
reflecting both the more difficult cost-related
trading conditions and concerns with the speed
and nature of our Deal Builder product roll-out.
Average retailer forecourts advertising with us for
the year decreased by 0.5% to 13,942 (2025: 14,013)
and were 236/1.7% lower in the second half. Whilst
this was disappointing, we have listened carefully
to customer feedback, taken proportionate
action and remain focused on winning back
retailers and strengthening our long-term
partnership with customers.
Average revenue per retailer (‘ARPR’) increased 5%
(or £141) to £2,995 (2025: £2,854). This was primarily
driven by our April 2025 pricing and product event
which included our generative AI powered product,
Co-Driver, which automates vehicle description
generation and vehicle highlights for retailers, as
well as image tagging, ordering and optimisation.
Despite higher average live car listings of 451,000
(2025: 449,000), which was supported by an offer,
paid for stock was a drag on ARPR this year. This
was largely due to customers moderating spend at
the end of the calendar year, which also impacted
our prominence products. We are evolving our
package staircase in H1, with the aim of returning
prominence to long-term growth.
A WELL-INVESTED TECHNOLOGY
AND DATA PLATFORM
Our technology platform reflects decades of
consistent, long-term investment. We have already
transitioned fully to a modern cloud-based delivery
and data platform based largely on open-source
technologies. We’ve adopted these emerging
technologies always within our existing cost base.
The highly performant, reliable and consistent
architecture allows us to build new features quickly
on stable foundations. The recent addition of an
AI platform built using the same principles allows
us to quickly build, train and roll-out AI services and
products utilising a wide range of foundational
Large Language Models (‘LLMs’).
Alongside this, we hold a proprietary dataset
covering everything from vehicle specifications
to real-time buyer behaviour, which retailers
have come to rely on as much as our advertising
products. With the broadest view of the UK car
market, we can provide unparalleled insight into
which cars retailers should be stocking, what
retail prices they are likely to achieve, likely days
to sell and how they are performing against
competitors. We have almost 300 people in our
customer-facing teams, who are equipped with
tools that identify operational opportunities,
problem vehicles, areas of future risk and
opportunity and performance variation across
different retail sites. By combining these tools
with hands-on support, we help retailers drive
efficiencies and improve profitability over time.
The use of our data also extends beyond just
retailers to become an important industry asset,
integrated with over 220 technology partners
and increasingly central to finance and
insurance companies. The number of calls on
these technology and data services increased to
an average of 155 million per month (2025: 91 million),
demonstrating the embedded nature of this
data into many customer systems and decision-
making processes. We see further opportunity
in continuing to expand this capability to deliver
business improvements to a range of automotive
industry participants.
CEO’s statement
We are committed to delivering
more, higher quality enquiries,
that convert at double the rate
into sale for our customers, which
has always been at the core of
our Deal Builder proposition.
Nathan Coe
Chief Executive Officer
SCAN TO LISTEN TO NATHAN’S
INTERVIEW ON THE BBC BIG BOSS
Strategic report
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Financial statements
Autotrader Group plc
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2026
05
CEO’s statement
continued
AI PRESENTS SIGNIFICANT OPPORTUNITY TO
IMPROVE OUR EXPERIENCES
We believe the shift in AI capability over the next
few years will be as big if not a bigger technology
transition than the internet, mobile, big data,
cloud and machine-learning. The products we
are building today provide a long runway for us to
provide an even richer experience for car buyers,
better tooling for retailers, enabling them to
automate tasks that previously relied on the
manual effort of people, and better tooling for
our colleagues enabling us to improve our ways
of working. We are well positioned to do this with
a technology stack that already has examples
of these types of products at scale today.
Our product and technology organisation
includes a growing data science and analytics
community and has had ongoing research
partnerships with Manchester Metropolitan
University and the University of Manchester
since 2019, focused on Natural Language
Processing and Large Language Models,
producing academic whitepapers and insights
that inform internal development. Our data
platform includes more than 50 proprietary
AI and machine learning models, and our
advantage lies in training these specialised
models that leverage our significant volume
of consumer, vehicle and retailer data to deliver
a level of accuracy and consistency that
general-purpose LLMs cannot achieve on their
own. Publicly available vehicle listings represent
only a small part of the required data, and our
products are dependent on deep technical
integrations including vehicle checks, integrated
retailer finance offers, and integrations with
manufacturer production systems, all of which
have been built over many years and are
generally specific to the UK.
For car buyers, we have delivered:
•
Our new “I’m looking for” AI-powered search,
which uses proprietary models to enable
car buyers to search across car listings
using categories.
•
A trial of conversational-based text search
to discover filters more easily.
•
ChatGPT app integration via Model
Context Protocol (‘MCP’), which benefits
future integrations.
•
AI-generated vehicle highlights, identifying
what characteristics are most valuable
compared to similar vehicles.
•
Improved search relevancy algorithm that
also underpins our advertising products.
•
“You may also like” suggested recommendations.
•
Specification adjusted valuations underpinning
our price flags.
•
Independent valuations for private sale, part-
exchange, sale to a retailer or a retailer auction.
•
Enhanced imagery and descriptions through
Co-Driver.
We are benefiting from a long history of investment in our technology, data and AI platform
Autotrader data
science team
established
Data science
partnership
with UoM
Acquisition of
Kee Resources
Moved critical
database
infrastructure
to the cloud
Employed full time
post-doc to work on
LLMs at MMU
Launched
first AI model
(Valuations)
Technical
migration from
private data
centres to cloud
commences
Data science
partnership with
MMU begins
Retail
Essentials
Trended
Valuations
Valuations
For retailers, we have delivered:
•
Tools that help optimise inventory
performance (pricing, retail rating, market
health, demand, supply, vehicle marketplace
performance and predicted days to sell).
•
APIs that power manufacturer and retailer
websites, business intelligence tools, point-
of-sale systems and third-party applications.
•
Improved car buyer conversion through Deal
Builder and Buying Signals.
•
Productivity improvements through AI-powered
Co-Driver image and description tools. 86% of
retailers have used one of our Co-Driver tools
since launch. There have been 1.9 million
descriptions generated and 700k smart image
re-orders. 66% of retailers have used Co-Driver
in the past 30 days.
Consumer behaviour is changing, with increased
use of conversational chat interfaces powered
by LLMs. We expect this trend to continue, with AI
taking on more of the buying experience for many
goods sold online. Whilst this change presents
some risk, car buying is a high-value, multi-step
and often regulated process, where each vehicle
is unique and changes daily. We see opportunity
to provide seamless pathways into real-time
vehicle results through efficient and effective
integrations with AI assistants and agents. As with
search engines over the past two decades, AI
agents will rely on Autotrader as a trusted source
of truth, ensuring that wherever a buyer’s journey
begins, the most accurate and up-to-date
information comes from our platform.
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
2026
13 AI driven “I’m looking for”
categories added into search
to help consumers find
vehicles based on lifestyle
needs and practical usage.
Developed connectivity for AI
agents using the emerging
standard MCP protocol – with
ChatGPT app integration live,
and more to follow.
Buying Signals – powered by
Autotrader Intelligence – helps
retailers understand exactly
what buyers want.
RECENT PROGRESS
Data lake
established
700+ services
migrated to the
cloud, physical data
centres closed
Launched
Co-Driver, our
first LLM powered
products
AUTOTRADER CONNECT
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Annual Report and Financial Statements 2026
06
Description
generated
PROMPT
TUNING
HARNESS
We are
currently
on version 11
CEO’s statement
continued
INCREASING VALUE FOR OUR RETAILERS
As part of our 1 April 2025 pricing and product
event, we included Co-Driver which anecdotally
reduces the average time taken to list a vehicle
from 28 minutes to 5 minutes, which is significant
when multiplied across more than 340,000
vehicles uploaded every month by retailers.
Vehicle Highlights, which appear on the majority
of adverts, has seen strong buyer engagement
and feedback.
We are committed to delivering more, higher
quality enquiries, that convert at double the rate
into sales for our customers, which has always
been at the core of our Deal Builder proposition.
We believe doing so will drive long-term value for
buyers, our retailer customers and Autotrader,
whilst being difficult for others to replicate. During
the year we recognised the need to change both
our approach and aspects of the product to
better accommodate the needs of some retailers.
Sentiment has now improved following our
response, which included: pausing auto-roll-out;
holding open listening sessions; establishing
customer advisory groups; and introducing
“request a reservation”.
In the year, we have continued to scale Deal
Builder, with over 6.7k retailers on the product
(March 2025: 2.0k) and 175k vehicles live at the end
of March (March 2025: 84k). Within the 6.7k retailers,
we have started onboarding some of our largest
customers with custom integrations. In the year,
we saw 137k deals with a full reservation placed
(2025: 49k), which continue to be the very best
enquiries in terms of conversion to sale.
In January 2026, we launched our Buying
Signals product, which uses a proprietary
machine learning model trained on verified but
anonymised sales transactions and consumer
interactions. Buying Signals has already featured
on over 800k enquiries, and early results indicate
that leads flagged as high-intent convert at twice
the average rate. With over 15 million enquiries
generated annually, some of which go
unanswered, the potential for better outcomes
for both car buyers and retailers is clear.
OUR CULTURE
Culture for us is as tangible and important to
our performance as our strategy, competitive
position, product and technology.
During the year, we completed the move to our new
office at Circle Square in Manchester. Although
only a short distance from our previous site,
this new campus represents a meaningful step
forward. It can accommodate all our people
and provides a modern working environment,
increased space for collaboration, improved
facilities for customers and community activity,
enhanced technology and stronger environmental
credentials. Employee engagement has fallen to
72% from 91% a year ago. It has been a challenging
year for colleagues with restructures, external
factors and a tighter approach to working in
the office. We remain committed to improving
this measure over the next 12 months. Other core
people measures including recruitment and
colleague turnover remain largely unchanged.
At the end of March 2026, women represented
43% of our organisation (March 2025: 44%) and 43%
(March 2025: 43%) of leadership roles as defined by
the FTSE Women Leaders Review. Ethnically diverse
employees represent 20% of our organisation
(March 2025: 19%), and 9% (March 2025: 10%) of
leaders. We remain focused on improving both of
these percentages, albeit in a sustainable way.
Our Board comprises four women and four men,
with two from an ethnically diverse background
and a woman as Senior Independent Director.
We are committed to being net zero by 2040
and halving our carbon emissions by 2030,
targets which have been validated by the Science
Based Targets initiative (‘SBTi’). Our calculations
estimate our GHG emissions during the year were
55% higher at c.144.1k tonnes of CO₂ across Scopes
1, 2 and 3 (2025: 93.2k tonnes). The majority of our
emissions are Scope 3, with the increase driven
by both one-off capital expenditure on our new
office and an increase in the number of vehicles
taken on balance sheet by Autorama.
OUTLOOK
We remain comfortable with our current levels of
investment such that Group operating profit margins,
excluding Vehicle & Accessory sales, will be at least
maintained. Group operating profit is expected to
be £395m – £415m for financial year 2027. With an
accelerated level of share buybacks, we anticipate
at least high single digit Basic EPS growth.
Autotrader revenue was flat year-on-year in April
2026, due to a lower run rate and a lower price
increase. However, retailer forecourts, volumes
of paid stock and package penetration are now
improving, and we expect to grow in the second
half. Full-year expectations are as follows:
•
Our pricing and product event has gone well,
growing the price lever within ARPR by £85-95.
Growth in the product lever is expected to
contribute £65-75.
•
Stock will recover resulting in an improvement
from current levels to minus £30-40 for the
full year.
•
Average retailer forecourts are now growing
but will be 1-2% lower for the full year.
•
Other revenue will be broadly flat in aggregate,
with a decline in Consumer Services offset by
growth in Manufacturer & Agency.
We expect Autorama to make a small profit for
the year, with Commission & Ancillary revenue
growing 8-12% and Vehicle & Accessory sales
of c.£40m.
As the majority of leasing transactions now
originate on Autotrader we will move to one
reported operating segment in 2027. More detail
is provided within the Financial review.
Nathan Coe
Chief Executive Officer
21 May 2026
Building on our unique data sets to enable robust customer and consumer
facing AI products
Generate
description
THE STANDARD WAY
Vehicle descriptions using a standard LLM
THE AUTOTRADER WAY
Co-Driver vehicle descriptions powered by
Generate
description
Prompt into LLM
Description
generated
MULTI-MODEL
PROMPT
CRAFTING
The system feeds
the LLM specific
data sets, rather
than raw,
unstructured
data.
Specific vehicle
highlights
Taxonomy and
spec
Service history
Reading age
Completeness
Retention
Input
contribution
Similarity
to stock
Common
phrase reuse
RIGOROUS
QUALITY
TRACKING
(often with generic language,
or specification errors)
STATISTICAL
FEATURE
HIGHLIGHTING
Highlights like
‘large boot’ are
calculated using
quintiles across
all available
stock to ensure
accuracy.
Spec adjusted
valuations
Mileage
highlights
Supply and
demand metrics
THESE ARE TYPICALLY MACHINE LEARNING MODELS
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Autotrader Group plc
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2026
07
155m
technology and
data service calls
per month
(2025: 91m)
LEVERAGING
AI TOOLS
Developing AI-enabled products for retailers
Our generative AI powered product,
Co-Driver, which automates vehicle
description generation and vehicle
highlights for retailers, as well as image
tagging, ordering and optimisation.
INCREASING
LEASING VOLUMES
Increased choice through new car and leasing
We continued to focus on integrating leasing
offers into the core Autotrader search
experience. The goal is to enable a more
scalable and robust checkout journey on all
platforms and to ensure we are set up to grow
profitably as volume returns to the personal
leasing channel (‘PCH’).
Marketplace
– Be the best place to buy and sell a car
FOCUS
Our marketplace delivered robust revenue
and operating profit growth. In the year our
competitive position strengthened; 6x more
time was spent on Autotrader than all our
main competitors combined. Retailer numbers
softened slightly during the year, due to both
the more difficult trading conditions and the
pushback related to the speed and nature
of our Deal Builder product roll-out.
PROGRESS 2026
•
We retained record numbers of buyers, with
an average number of cross-platform visits
of 81.7 million per month (2025: 81.6 million).
•
The majority of our audience continues to
come direct to us, either through our app,
direct to our URL or through searches for
“Autotrader”, emphasising the strength of
our brand and the role we play in searching
real-time inventory.
•
Achieved 5% ARPR growth from pricing
and product initiatives, which included
the launch of our Co-Driver product.
•
Live car listings increased marginally
year-on-year to 451,000 (2025: 449,000).
•
Supported the EV transition, with EVs
making up 24% of new car stock.
Our strategy
ASSOCIATED RISKS
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
1.
Macro risks
2.
Automotive economy, market and
business environment
3.
Legal and regulatory compliance
4. Competition
5.
IT systems and cyber security
6. Employees
7.
Brand and reputation
8.
Failure to innovate continuously
and responsibly
9.
Climate change
10.
Reliance on third parties
and partners
PRINCIPAL RISKS
Platform
– Be the industry’s data and technology platform
FOCUS
Our technology platform reflects a decade
of consistent, long-term investment. We have
already transitioned from legacy systems to
a modern cloud-based delivery and data
platform capable of managing the full data
lifecycle. We’ve adopted these emerging
technologies always within our existing cost
base. Our AI gateway enables us to abstract
our proprietary models from open-source
LLMs (‘Large Language Models’), ensuring
we can integrate the latest innovations while
maintaining our unique data advantage.
PROGRESS 2026
•
Saw strong adoption of platform data,
tools and technology, with high engagement
across integrated retailers and over 220
technology partners.
•
The number of calls on these technology
and data services increased to average 155
million per month (2025: 91 million),
demonstrating the embedded nature of
this data into many customer systems and
decision-making processes.
•
Launched new “I’m looking for” AI-powered
suggested search, which uses a proprietary
LLM to enable car buyers to search across
makes and models using categories in more
natural language.
•
Productivity improvements through AI-powered
Co-Driver image and description tools.
ASSOCIATED RISKS
5
8
10
HOW WE MEASURE PROGRESS
•
API calls on average per month
•
Number of lender integrations
•
Number of product releases
2.5x
car leasing
volumes up
HOW WE MEASURE PROGRESS
• Revenue
•
Average revenue per retailer (‘ARPR’)
•
Operating profit (and margin)
• Basic EPS
•
Cash generated from operations
• Cross-platform visits
• Cross-platform minutes
•
Number of retailer forecourts
•
Live car stock
• Employee engagement
Strategic report
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Autotrader Group plc
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2026
08
72%
of employees say
they’re proud to
work for Autotrader
(2025: 91%)
DRIVING
POSITIVE CHANGE
Working responsibly is central to our purpose
and strategy. We are committed to doing
business the right way, acting with integrity,
and measuring and reporting transparently
to drive meaningful change.
Digital retailing
– Be the enabler for more to be done online
FOCUS
We are committed to delivering more, higher
quality enquiries, that convert at a high rate
into sale for our customers, which has always
been at the core of our Deal Builder proposition.
We believe doing so will drive long-term value
for buyers, our retailer customers and
Autotrader, whilst also being difficult for others
to replicate. We have launched Buying Signals
which identifies high-intent leads and buying
preferences, allowing retailers to prioritise
those buyers that are most ready to buy.
PROGRESS 2026
•
In the year, we have continued to roll out Deal
Builder, with over 6.7k retailers on the product
(March 2025: 2.0k) and 175k vehicles live at the
end of March (March 2025: 84k).
•
As part of the 6.7k retailers, we have begun
onboarding some of our largest customers
with custom integrations.
•
In November 2025, we received some
negative sentiment around the Deal
Builder products. We subsequently held
customer listening sessions, made product
variations, tested various front-end
consumer journeys and changed the
language around “Deals” which was
causing confusion for some customers.
Our strategy
continued
ASSOCIATED RISKS
3
5
8
10
1.
Macro risks
2.
Automotive economy, market and
business environment
3.
Legal and regulatory compliance
4. Competition
5.
IT systems and cyber security
6. Employees
7.
Brand and reputation
8.
Failure to innovate continuously
and responsibly
9.
Climate change
10.
Reliance on third parties
and partners
PRINCIPAL RISKS
c.6,700
retailers live with
Deal Builder in March
2026 (2025: c.2,000)
HOW WE MEASURE PROGRESS
•
Number of Deal Builder customers
•
Number of Deal Builder live stock
•
Number of submitted deals
•
Number of leasing vehicles delivered
Working responsibly
– Be a responsible business
FOCUS
Our ESG strategy is underpinned by our
purpose of Driving Change Together.
Responsibly.
This ensures we strive to make a positive
difference to our people, our communities,
the industries we operate in and the wider
environment to create a more accessible,
equitable and sustainable future.
PROGRESS 2026
The environment
•
Further engagement with Government
departments, including participation in
Parliamentary groups and committees.
•
Continued our partnership with the
Carbon Literacy Trust and funding of the
Automotive and Digital & Tech Carbon
Literacy Sector Toolkits.
Our people & communities
•
Developing our leaders through investment
in tools and resources and our “Leader as
Coach” programme.
•
Partnered with the Good Things Foundation
to support research and strategic planning
focused on digital inclusion.
•
Launched our first T-Level placement and
expanded our L4 software engineering
apprenticeship.
Our governance & compliance
•
Established our Responsible Change Forum
to drive forward our ESG priorities.
ASSOCIATED RISKS
6
7
9
HOW WE MEASURE PROGRESS
•
See our cultural KPIs and Working
responsibly section
LAUNCHED
BUYING SIGNALS
Gives retailers the power to understand
exactly what buyers want
High-intent, local buyers
Spot high-intent buyers in your area using
AI-driven signals, so you can focus on leads
most likely to convert.
Deep insight into buyer preferences
Understand exactly what buyers want, from
preferred make and model to mileage, age,
and price range. Buying Signals gives the
clearest summary of individual preferences.
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Annual Report and Financial Statements 2026
09
2025
2026
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
7.3
7.6
7.7
6.9
7.5
6.5
7.7
7.9
7.9
8.2
7.8
7.3
7.3
6.7
6.7
Car transactions – million
Financial year
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
Market overview
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
2025
2026
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2.0
2.0
2.1
1.7
1.6
1.6
2.1
2.3
2.4
2.7
2.7
2.5
2.3
2.1
1.9
Car transactions – million
Financial year
A resilient market growing in both volume and value
NEW CAR REGISTRATIONS
New car registrations grew 5% over the past
12 months to 2.1 million (2025: 2.0 million), with
growth coming through the retail channel
for the first time in four years. We have seen
a notable increase in volumes from newer
Chinese manufacturers, providing franchise
retailers with opportunities to broaden their
portfolios at a time when profitability in some
established brands has come under pressure,
partly due to the costs of meeting the Zero
Emission Vehicle (‘ZEV’) mandate.
The electric transition remains integral to
the health of the new car market, with EVs
achieving a record 23.4% share (nearly half
a million registrations), while the Government’s
new Electric Car Grant, launched in 2025
successfully stimulated private demand.
With increasing numbers of models becoming
eligible for the grant, it opened up EVs to a
wider pool of buyers.
However, mixed messaging from the
Government is risking interest in EVs, as a
newly proposed pay per mile EV tax (Electric
Vehicle Excise Duty) threatens to erode the
cost savings of running an EV. Despite
regulatory complexities, the market benefits
from stiff competition, with 72 brands now
operating in the UK. This has created an influx
of affordable electric models, expanding
consumer choice and affordability.
USED CAR TRANSACTIONS
The used car market demonstrated exceptional
resilience throughout the financial year,
concluding 2026 with 7.7 million transactions,
representing steady 1% year-on-year growth.
This sustained recovery provides a very robust
foundation for the next financial year. With new
registrations also increasing, the combined UK
car market is moving closer to 10 million total
transactions, effectively returning the industry
to its pre-pandemic scale for the first time
since 2019.
This growth is driven by continued consumer
appetite for vehicle ownership. Last year we
recorded nearly one billion platform visits to
Autotrader, helping our partners’ stock to
continue turning over at a highly profitable pace.
While demand is secure, the market faces
structural supply headwinds as the estimated
2.5 million “lost” pandemic registrations age
through the vehicle parc. This shortfall is now
maturing into a “cliff edge” for middle-aged
stock, resulting in a forecasted 17% drop in the
availability of 5-7-year-old vehicles over the
next two years. However, by leveraging our
unparalleled data and AI-powered tools,
retailers are well equipped to navigate these
supply gaps, adapt their forecourts, and
fully capitalise on the very strong levels of
buyer engagement.
New car registrations
Used car transactions
Strategic report
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Annual Report and Financial Statements 2026
10
Market overview
continued
New
Scrapped
Car parc
UK car parc – million
New / (scrapped) – million
2024
2025
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
Calendar year
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
(2.5)
(2.0)
(1.5)
(1.0)
(0.5)
0.0
35.0
36.0
37.0
29.0
30.0
31.0
32.0
33.0
34.0
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
18,000
20,000
2024
2025
2026
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
Financial year
UK car parc
Average used vehicle price
£
LONG-TERM PRICES
Over the past financial year, the automotive
market has demonstrated remarkable
resilience. We have seen used car retail
prices stabilise and return to normal seasonal
patterns, with average values averaging
£17,597 across financial year 2026.
Looking ahead, we confidently expect the
value of both new and used cars to continue
increasing over the long term. This upward
trajectory is not purely inflationary; it is
fundamentally driven by the longer useful
lives of modern vehicles, enhanced
technological functionality, and the ongoing
structural shift towards higher-value electric
vehicles (‘EVs’). Crucially, as vehicle values rise,
historical data shows retailer gross margins
remain consistently stable between 9% and 11%.
Empowered by our proprietary data and
800,000 daily market observations, retailers
are equipped to price accurately to live market
demand. This ensures that higher vehicle
prices reliably translate into higher absolute
gross profits, underpinning robust, growing
profit for the industry.
UK CAR PARC
The UK car parc has continued to grow steadily,
increasing by just over 300,000 vehicles – or
around 1% per year on average over the past
two decades, reaching 37 million today.
Transaction volumes have also generally
grown at a similar pace, as the speed at which
the overall car parc turns has consistently
ranged between three and four years over
this period. These long-term trends were
temporarily disrupted during the COVID-19
pandemic, when new car production fell to
levels below those seen during the 2008-09
financial crisis. The resulting constraints on
supply across several age bands reduced
supply and accelerated stock turn. These
cyclical movements are typical, and while we
expect periods of both above and below trend
growth, the underlying drivers of a growing
population, an expanding parc and increasing
transaction volumes remain firmly in place.
plc.autotrader.co.uk/news-views/retail-price-index/
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Annual Report and Financial Statements 2026
11
La
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Value created for shareholders
Our marketplace is built on an industry-leading technology
and data platform, which is increasingly used across the
automotive industry. The scale and engagement with our
platform deepens our relationship with both customers
and car buyers, as well as presenting long-term growth
opportunities. Autotrader is continuing to bring more of
the car buying journey online, creating an improved buying
experience for both buyers and sellers.
Our people
We continue to evolve our culture so everyone
can develop and achieve their career
aspirations, in an environment that supports
collaboration, wellbeing and creativity.
Increasingly
better informed
car buyers
AI enabled
tools and
efficiencies
More of the
buying journey
online
Real time vehicle
updates for
customers
Increased choice
through new car
and leasing
Industry-leading
valuations and
vehicle data
Our key drivers of value
Powering the automotive ecosystem
How we create value
Creating value as the UK’s largest automotive marketplace
and leading digital platform for the automotive industry
A growing automotive
market and profit pool
1
Our market-leading position
2
Our heritage of innovation
3
A focused and consistent strategy
4
Our purpose and culture
5
DATA
Industry-leading data, insight & taxonomy
PLATFORM
High-quality technology platform
Our investors
Long-term revenue and profit growth
leading to significant cash generation
and returns to shareholders through
dividends and share buybacks.
Our consumers
The best buying experience with
the greatest choice of vehicles
regardless of type or purchase
method. Continuing to create greater
levels of transparency for car buyers.
Our customers
The most effective sales channel
with market-leading insight, data and
products. Continue to drive efficiencies
with AI and more of the buying journey
being completed online.
Strategic report
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Autotrader Group plc
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2026
12
Considering our
stakeholders
To achieve our goals and ensure long-term
success, we recognise the importance of
establishing and maintaining meaningful,
mutually beneficial relationships with our
stakeholders. We actively consider different
stakeholder perspectives, identify their priorities,
and assess the long-term impact of our business
on both the industry and the environment.
The Board and the Autotrader Leadership
Team are dedicated to upholding our high
standards of business conduct.
A detailed stakeholder framework is applied
to all decision papers prepared for the Board in
advance and is key to thoughtful and considered
boardroom discussions.
The framework which has been adopted allows
decision-makers to consider the balance of
interests of affected stakeholders and ultimately
to do the right thing for the long-term success of
the Company for the benefit of its members as
a whole. The Board recognises that not every
decision will result in an equally positive outcome
for all stakeholders. However, by genuinely
understanding our stakeholders and considering
their diverse needs, the Board incorporates into
discussions the potential impact of decisions
taken on each stakeholder group and the other
matters required by section 172(1).
Considering the long-term consequences
of our decisions
How we create value
P12
Strategic progress
P08
Material decisions made
P16
Considering the interests of our employees
How we create value
P12
Our stakeholders
P14
Our people & communities
P35
The need to foster good relationships
with our stakeholders
How we create value
P12
Our stakeholders
P14
Considering our impact on the
environment and our community
Report of the Corporate Responsibility
Committee
P72
Our ESG strategy
P25
TCFD disclosures
P30
Maintaining high standards of conduct
Governance
P53
How we manage risk
P43
Our governance & compliance
P40
Acting fairly between stakeholders
How we create value
P12
Our stakeholders
P14
Section 172(1) matters
Our purpose is Driving Change Together. Responsibly
We are
driving change
in
an industry that needs to
evolve to adapt to changing
consumer needs, and the
changing product, as
electric vehicles become
the mainstream.
Our business model results in
bringing
together
a diverse set
of stakeholders – consumers,
customers (including retailers,
manufacturers and other
customers), suppliers and
partners – underpinned by our
collaborative, people-led culture.
We are committed to acting
responsibly
through our
focus on diversity and
inclusion, the environment,
our sustainability practices
and maintaining high levels
of ethical conduct, trust
and transparency.
The Directors of the Company have acted in
a way that they consider, in good faith, would
be most likely to promote the success of the
Company for the benefit of its members as
a whole, having due regard in doing so for the
matters set out in section 172 (1) (a) to (f) of the
Companies Act 2006.
Section 172(1) statement
P 24 For our full list of material issues
Strategic report
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Financial statements
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Annual Report and Financial Statements 2026
13
Maintaining stakeholder
relationships
We highlight our key stakeholder groups, their
importance to our business, their priorities, and how
both the organisation and the Board engage with
them and respond through meaningful actions.
Where engagement does not take place directly with the
Board, stakeholder feedback is communicated through
detailed reports to the Board and/or its Committees
throughout the year to inform decision-making.
A strong understanding of our stakeholders and their
diverse interests enables the Board to consider the
potential impact and long-term consequences
of its decisions as part of boardroom discussions.
Consumers
Customers
WHY ARE OUR CUSTOMERS
IMPORTANT TO US?
Our partnerships with vehicle
retailers, manufacturers, leasing
companies and other customers
enable us to offer consumers
the widest choice of vehicles.
The majority of our revenue is
generated from our customers.
WHAT MATTERS TO OUR
CUSTOMERS?
•
Access to a large volume
of engaged car buyers.
•
Streamlining the car selling
process for greater efficiency.
•
Effectively sourcing vehicles.
•
Easy access to trusted,
understandable data for
informed sourcing and
disposal decisions.
•
Ensuring value for money with
Autotrader through product
choice, quality and cost.
•
Establishing two-way lasting
partnerships.
HOW DO WE ENGAGE WITH
OUR CUSTOMERS?
•
Newly established Customer
Advisory Groups for retailer
customers.
•
Board members accompany
sales teams on customer visits.
•
Retailer sentiment surveys.
•
Hosting regular forums with
CEOs of major and mid-tier
retailers, manufacturers, car
supermarkets and automotive
finance and technology
companies to share our latest
data and insight and gain
their input.
•
Leadership Team participates
in a business partnering
programme.
•
Telesales and field sales teams
maintain ongoing
communication with customers.
•
Publishing regular thought
leadership and insight-driven
reports, such as the Road to
2030 Report and our monthly
market intelligence updates.
•
Regular communication through
our marketing channels.
WHAT ACTIONS DID WE TAKE?
•
Created Customer Advisory
Groups following customer
feedback to our Deal Builder
roll-out (see page 16).
•
Developed a dashboard to track
and monitor customer
sentiment which is circulated
to the Board.
•
Organised timely webinars
to support retailers on topics
such as the FCA Commissions
court ruling.
•
Hosted and attended industry
events and masterclasses to
share insights and discuss key
market topics.
MATERIAL ISSUES
2
Data privacy and security
4
Product innovation
5
Customer satisfaction
6
Pricing fairness
8
Advocacy
Our people
WHY ARE OUR PEOPLE IMPORTANT
TO US?
Our people are one of our most
valuable assets and the key to
our ongoing success. To thrive, it
is important to attract new talent
while supporting and developing
our highly skilled workforce.
We aim to create a diverse and
inclusive culture and environment
where everyone has the right
tools to achieve their full
potential and feels a valued
part of our community.
WHAT MATTERS TO OUR PEOPLE?
•
Fair reward, recognition
and benefits.
•
Opportunities for training,
career development and
professional growth.
•
Supportive leadership with
open communication and
appreciation for contributions.
•
A working environment that
provides a comfortable,
inspiring physical space with
an emphasis on wellbeing.
•
An inclusive values-led culture.
HOW DO WE ENGAGE WITH
OUR PEOPLE?
•
The Board Engagement Guild,
made up of employees from
across the business, engages
with the Board (without
management present).
•
Regular employee engagement
surveys.
•
Annual all-employee
conference, regular virtual
business updates and daily
updates via slack.
•
Open wellbeing forums.
•
Health and safety assessments.
•
Independent whistleblowing
service.
WHAT ACTIONS DID WE TAKE?
•
Ran both an Inclusive People
Management Programme and
Diverse Talent Accelerator,
focused on developing diverse
talent across the business.
•
Launched a new ‘Leader as
Coach’ programme for all our
people managers.
•
Ongoing review and refresh
of annual employee benefits
including a change to our
pension plan.
•
Benchmarking of salary and
benefits in line with the market.
•
Continuing with annual Save
As You Earn share scheme and
One Autotrader Share Award.
•
Offered a free financial
wellbeing education session
conducted by an external
leading specialist.
•
Moved into new office in Circle
Square, Manchester.
MATERIAL ISSUES
2
Data privacy and security
3
Employee wellbeing,
engagement and safety
7
Investment in talent
10
Diversity and inclusion
16
Ethics and integrity
17
Remuneration
WHY ARE OUR CONSUMERS
IMPORTANT TO US?
The continued success of our
business model is underpinned
by maintaining and strengthening
relationships with consumers.
Our business thrives by creating a
large, engaged community of car
buyers, sellers and researchers
who trust our brand and reputation
and have trust and confidence in
Autotrader as a marketplace.
WHAT MATTERS TO
OUR CONSUMERS?
•
Wide choice of vehicles and
choice of ways in which to buy
•
Hassle free and trusted buying
and selling processes.
•
Clear, transparent and accurate
details for vehicles, sellers, and
payment options.
•
Reliable and accessible service
with knowledgeable support
and responsive communication
when needed.
HOW DO WE ENGAGE WITH
OUR CONSUMERS?
•
Regular contact with a diverse
group of consumers for
research and insight purposes
looking into their car buying
intentions and beyond.
•
Conducting consumer user
testing for new and existing
products, services and website
designs with a wide range
of demographics.
•
Providing in-house consumer
facing support seven days
a week.
•
Utilising social media
and marketing channels
to communicate.
WHAT ACTIONS DID WE TAKE?
•
Partnered with an accessibility
agency to test our approach
to building accessible products
and journeys.
•
Conducted one-on-one
interviews with consumers
who had experienced our Deal
Builder journey (checkout
experience) to understand their
path to purchase and the
impact of our experience.
•
New benchmarking to a broader
audience to understand brand
awareness, preference,
considerations and product.
•
Outputs of consumer research
shared with Autotrader
Leadership Team (‘ALT’)
and Board to factor into
decision-making.
Section 172(1) statement
continued
The environment
Our people & communities
Our governance & compliance
MATERIAL ISSUES
(retailers, manufacturers and other customers)
MATERIAL ISSUES
2
Data privacy and security
4
Product innovation
5
Customer satisfaction
11
Driving transparency
Strategic report
Governance
Financial statements
Autotrader Group plc
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2026
14
Partners & suppliers
Community & environment
WHY ARE OUR COMMUNITY AND OUR
ENVIRONMENT IMPORTANT TO US?
We aim to have a net positive impact
on the planet while mitigating the
effects of climate change on our
business. We strive to strengthen
communities and create positive
social and environmental change.
WHAT MATTERS TO OUR COMMUNITY
AND OUR ENVIRONMENT?
•
Energy consumption and carbon
emissions.
•
Transitioning to electric vehicles.
•
Supporting local communities in
which we operate and beyond.
•
Other Environmental, Social and
Governance (‘ESG’) factors.
HOW DO WE ENGAGE WITH OUR
COMMUNITY AND OUR ENVIRONMENT?
•
Employee networks support our
charitable initiatives, including
the Autotrader Community Funds.
•
We support and partner with
organisations such as Manchester
Digital, Good Things Foundation
and the Automotive 30% Club, to
address issues such as the national
tech skills shortage, digital
inclusion and the gender gap.
•
We work with local schools and
colleges through our STEM
ambassador programme to
support early career development.
•
We regularly share data and
insights with industry bodies and
Government departments to
shape policies that support the
mass adoption of electric vehicles.
WHAT ACTIONS DID WE TAKE?
•
The Corporate Responsibility
Committee holds the business
accountable for its cultural KPIs
and external reporting. We also
established the Responsible
Change Forum to drive our
ESG strategy.
•
Continued Carbon Literacy
training for all employees and
funded a new Carbon Literacy®
Toolkitforthedigital&techindustries.
•
Formed a new long-term
partnership with Good Things
Foundation and Greater
Manchester Combined Authority
to fund a new project aimed at
eradicating digital exclusion in
Greater Manchester and beyond.
•
Launched our new public affairs
campaign focus for the year:
No Driver Left Behind, sharing
key consumer insights with the
industry to ensure an accessible
and equitable transition to EVs.
•
Charitable donations of £590k
through a mixture of Community
Funds and sponsorships.
•
Our employees took 513
volunteering days during the
year, making a difference in
local communities.
•
Continued to invest in our
Autotrader Community Funds
which aim to deliver financial
support to local community
groups. We operate four different
funds which support grassroots
community organisations.
MATERIAL ISSUES
1
Climate
9
Making a difference to our local
communities and industries
10
Diversity and inclusion
Investors
WHY ARE OUR INVESTORS
IMPORTANT TO US?
Maintaining an ongoing,
transparent dialogue with current
and potential investors fosters
confidence, resulting in continued
access to capital that enables us
to invest in the long-term success
of the business.
WHAT MATTERS TO OUR
INVESTORS?
•
Financial performance, with a
balanced and fair representation
of current financial results and
future prospects.
•
Share price performance and
overall returns.
•
Equitable remuneration
practices for both executives
and employees.
•
Adherence to high governance
standards.
•
A continued commitment to
being a responsible business and
focusing on key environmental
and social issues.
HOW DO WE ENGAGE WITH
OUR INVESTORS?
•
Open, honest and balanced
communication accessible
to all shareholders.
•
Private shareholders are
encouraged to contact the Board
through ir@autotrader.co.uk.
•
Comprehensive investor
relations programme.
•
Annual Report, AGM, corporate
website and regulatory news
announcements.
•
Ongoing dialogue with proxy
advisors and other agencies.
•
The Chair and the Chair of the
Remuneration Committee
maintain contact and
correspondence with investors
throughout the year.
•
Governance-related meetings
attended by the Chair or
another Non-Executive Director.
•
Feedback regularly given to
the Board.
•
Sharing relevant industry-
related data and internally
produced market reports with
analysts and investors on a
monthly basis.
WHAT ACTIONS DID WE TAKE?
•
Continued with our capital
policy and share buyback
programme, accelerating
buybacks (see page 16).
•
Paid an interim and final dividend.
•
Continued succession planning
to ensure the Board remains
independent.
•
Maintained an ongoing
commitment to enhancing the
transparency and relevance
of our information.
MATERIAL ISSUES
4
Product innovation
12
Digital infrastructure
14
Responsible tax strategy
and total tax contribution
15
Corporate governance
16
Ethics and integrity
17
Remuneration
WHY ARE OUR PARTNERS AND
SUPPLIERS IMPORTANT TO US?
Our suppliers and partners
support our technology
infrastructure, supply of vehicle
and financing data, and the
fulfilment of some of our
revenue-generating products.
Building trusted partnerships
allows us to collaborate more
effectively and consistently
to deliver the highest-quality
products and services.
WHAT MATTERS TO OUR PARTNERS
AND SUPPLIERS?
•
Collaborating on innovative
solutions.
•
Creating shared opportunities to
increase revenue and generate
additional income streams.
•
Fair trading practices and clear
terms and conditions.
•
Building long-term trusted
relationships.
HOW DO WE ENGAGE WITH OUR
PARTNERS AND SUPPLIERS?
•
Maintaining regular
engagement with suppliers
and partners at the appropriate
levels and fostering an open
dialogue for collaborative
relationships and creating
opportunities for shared
learning.
•
Implementing structured
procurement processes to
onboard new suppliers and then
conducting regular check-ins
for familiarisation, updates and
building ongoing relationships.
•
Agreeing initial ways of working
with new suppliers and partners
and providing feedback
throughout ongoing projects.
WHAT ACTIONS DID WE TAKE?
•
Regularly monitoring and
reviewing metrics such as
financial health, IT security
and operating resilience.
•
Reporting on the time taken
to pay suppliers within agreed
payment terms.
•
Using our Supplier Code of
Conduct to guide a holistic
assessment of cultural
alignment when selecting
suppliers and partners.
Section 172(1) statement
continued
MATERIAL ISSUES
4
Product innovation
13
Responsible supply chain
16
Ethics and integrity
The environment
Our people & communities
Our governance & compliance
MATERIAL ISSUES
Strategic report
Governance
Financial statements
Autotrader Group plc
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2026
15
Section 172(1) statement
continued
Deal Builder roll-out and
stakeholder feedback
CONTEXT
We remain in a unique position to connect online journeys
to offline retailer forecourt visits. Today, these journeys
typically start on Autotrader and transfer into retailers’
systems and processes through our Retailer Portal and
APIs. Our Deal Builder product makes this process easier,
faster and more effective for car buyers and retailers. In
May 2025, we made our Deal Builder product part of our
core proposition, accelerating adoption and materially
increasing the number of deals being submitted on
Autotrader, thereby strengthening the competitive
moat for our core business.
BOARD CONSIDERATIONS
In reviewing the acceleration plan, the Board considered
the impact across stakeholder groups:
•
Consumers would benefit from a more consistent
marketplace experience, with flexible ways to engage
with retailers and less friction for the many buyers who
arrive at a forecourt without prior contact.
•
The finance journey within Deal Builder considered
legal & regulatory compliance.
•
Retailers would gain a smoother online to offline sales
journey, higher conversion, less administrative effort
and improved out-of-hours activity.
•
Shareholder value would be increased for the long term,
through a stronger differentiated, subscription-based
business with opportunities to enhance monetisation
of ancillary products. The Board also recognised that
the technical complexity of the solution presents a
meaningful competitive advantage.
OUTCOME AND MANAGEMENT RESPONSE
We recognise the impact of a social media campaign
in November 2025, which whilst prompted by the
accelerated roll-out of Deal Builder, also reflected broader
concerns in what had been a difficult trading period
for many. This was disappointing given the significant
investment we make in supporting retailers, but it also
highlighted areas we need to improve. We received
constructive feedback and took swift action.
This included:
•
Holding listening sessions open to all customers
in London and Manchester.
•
Establishing formal Customer Advisory Groups for
independent and franchise retailers, complementing
our existing monthly forums which typically include
businesses representing c.1,700 retailer forecourts.
•
Introducing a “request reservation” option within Deal
Builder for retailers whose processes were not aligned
with full reservations.
•
Updating the product page to increase the
prominence of lead types most valued by retailers.
•
Pausing the auto-roll-out of Deal Builder to enable
direct engagement with retailers ahead of onboarding.
•
Testing changes to consumer sign-in requirements
for submitting enquiries.
•
Clarifying language so retailers do not assume
we are completing transactions which is how they
understand “Deal”.
All actions were debated with the Board and received its
full support. Feedback from retailers already using Deal
Builder and Buying Signals remained positive, and the
Board continues to view these products as integral to
Autotrader’s future platform experience.
Capital policy
CONTEXT
Autotrader’s long-term capital allocation policy
focuses on investing in the business to support
growth while returning approximately one-third of
net income to shareholders through dividends. Any
surplus cash generated following these activities
is allocated to continuing the Company’s ongoing
share buyback programme.
Amid widespread share price declines across
nearly all major classifieds platforms globally,
driven by concerns over AI-driven disruption,
Autotrader’s share price also experienced a
significant decline during financial year 2026.
Consequently, the Company’s earnings multiple
fell to historic lows, presenting a potential
opportunity to review this capital policy.
BOARD CONSIDERATIONS
The Board reviewed whether the materially lower
share price presented an opportunity to enhance
shareholder value by utilising debt capacity to
reduce capital. In doing so, it considered:
•
Alternative approaches to reducing capital,
including standard share buybacks, tender
offer or special dividend with consolidation;
•
Existing and potential increased debt facility;
•
The impact on EPS, interest costs and liquidity;
•
The effect on leverage, informed by modelling
that indicated additional borrowing capacity
could support incremental repurchases,
subject to remaining fiscally responsible;
•
Alignment with the existing capital policy and
long-term capital allocation priorities; and
•
The impact on remuneration plans, as detailed
in the DRR on page 73.
OUTCOMES
The Board believes the prevailing Autotrader
share price does not reflect the Company’s
fundamentals or long-term prospects. Despite
a rapidly changing technology environment, our
current competitive position has strengthened,
we are adapting our car buying experience to
evolve with consumer habits, and we remain
comfortable our investment in technology is
sufficient to take advantage of AI. We do
recognise that we have had a challenging end to
the year which has impacted growth in both 2026
and 2027, although we have seen a gradual
increase in some of our core metrics as we’ve
entered the new financial year.
With this in mind, in 2027 we will continue to assess
the attractiveness of the share price and currently
expect to return c.£600m to shareholders. This will
be through purchasing c.£500m of shares and we
will be seeking authority to purchase up to 15% of
issued share capital at our AGM, as well as paying
a third of net income in dividends. Based on
current assumptions, this would increase leverage
to c.1.0x. In aggregate this returns over £1bn to
shareholders over the course of FY26 and FY27.
RELEVANT STAKEHOLDERS
•
Consumers
•
Customers
•
Our People
RELEVANT STRATEGIC
PRIORITIES:
Marketplace
Platform
Digital retailing
Working responsibly
OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
Material decisions taken by the Board
Here are examples of two key decisions taken this financial
year, illustrating how the Board has had regard to the matters
set out in s.172, including where the Board discussed,
considered and balanced stakeholder interests.
RELEVANT STAKEHOLDERS
•
Investors
•
Our People
RELEVANT STRATEGIC
PRIORITIES:
Strategic report
Governance
Financial statements
Autotrader Group plc
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2026
16
2026
2025
2024
2023
624.3
601.1
570.
9
500.2
2,995
2,854
2,721
2,437
2026
2025
2024
2023
392.7
Margin
63%
Margin
63%
Margin
61%
Margin
55%
376.8
348.7
277.6
2026
2025
2024
2023
2026
2025
2024
2023
34.16
31.66
28.15
25.01
418.0
399.7
379.0
327.4
2026
2025
2024
2023
Key performance indicators
Measuring our
performance
We measure our performance
through a defined set of financial,
operational and cultural KPIs.
OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
Marketplace
Digital retailing
Platform
Working responsibly
1.
Macro risks
2.
Automotive economy, market and
business environment
3.
Legal and regulatory compliance
4.
Competition
5.
IT systems and cyber security
6.
Employees
7.
Brand and reputation
8.
Failure to innovate continuously
and responsibly
9.
Climate change
10.
Reliance on third parties and partners
1-10.
All principal risks could impact this KPI
FINANCIAL
1.
Average revenue per retailer (‘ARPR’) is calculated by
taking the average monthly revenue generated from
retailer customers and dividing by the average monthly
number of retailer forecourts who subscribe to an
Autotrader advertising package.
PROGRESS
Group revenue increased by 4% year-on-year, with
Autotrader revenue increasing to £585.3m, also
up 4% on the prior year. Trade revenue grew by 4%
to £531.3m, reflecting contributions from Retailer,
Home Trader and other smaller revenue streams.
Autorama generated £39.0m of revenue,
comprising £29.6m from Vehicle & Accessory sales
and £9.4m from Commission & Ancillary revenue.
Revenue
£m
Linked to remuneration?
Yes
PROGRESS
ARPR grew 5%/£141 in the year to £2,995, driven by
our product and pricing levers. Our annual pricing
and packaging event combined a like-for-like price
increase with additional products, including
Co-Driver. Stock had a negative contribution in the
year due to a small decline in retailers and some
customers moderating spend in the fourth quarter.
Average revenue per retailer
1
(‘ARPR’)
£ per month
Linked to remuneration?
No
PROGRESS
Group operating profit increased by 4% to £392.7m,
reflecting the increase in revenue and reduced
losses of £2.0m in Autorama. Operating profit in the
core Autotrader business was £408.0m, up 4% on
last year. Group operating profit margin remained
at 63%.
Operating profit
£m
Linked to remuneration?
Yes
PROGRESS
Basic EPS increased by 8% year-on-year, 4% more
than the increase in net income. We purchased
and cancelled 58.5 million shares during the year,
resulting in the average number of shares in issue
declining 4%.
Linked to remuneration?
Yes
PROGRESS
Cash generated from operations increased
5%, largely driven by the increases in Group
operating profit.
Cash generated from operations
£m
Linked to remuneration?
No
2026 PROGRESS
+4%
LINK TO RISKS
1-10
2026 PROGRESS
+5%
LINK TO RISKS
1-10
2026 PROGRESS
+4%
LINK TO RISKS
1-10
2026 PROGRESS
+8%
LINK TO RISKS
1-10
2026 PROGRESS
+5%
LINK TO RISKS
1-10
Basic EPS
Pence per share
OUR PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES
Strategic report
Governance
Financial statements
Autotrader Group plc
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2026
17
81.7m
81.6m
77.5m
69.6m
2026
2025
2024
2023
548m
557m
553m
514m
2026
2025
2024
2023
13,942
14,013
13,783
13,913
2026
2025
2024
2023
1,244
1,267
1,233
1,160
2026
2025
2024
2023
451,000
449,000
445,000
437,000
2026
2025
2024
2023
Key performance indicators
continued
OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
Marketplace
Digital retailing
Platform
Working responsibly
1.
Macro risks
2.
Automotive economy, market and
business environment
3.
Legal and regulatory compliance
4.
Competition
5.
IT systems and cyber security
6.
Employees
7.
Brand and reputation
8.
Failure to innovate: disruptive technologies
and changing consumer behaviours
9.
Climate change
10.
Reliance on third parties and partners
1-10.
All principal risks could impact this KPI
OPERATIONAL
1.
As measured internally by Snowplow.
2.
We use Comscore for a comparison to competitors.
3.
The average number of retailer forecourts per month
that subscribe to an Autotrader advertising package.
4.
Full-time equivalent employees (‘FTEs’), which includes
contractors, are measured on the basis of the number
of hours worked by full-time employees, with part-time
employees included on a pro-rata basis. FTEs are
reported internally each month; the full-year number is
the average of those.
5.
The average number of physical cars (either new or
used) that are advertised on autotrader.co.uk per
month.
PROGRESS
Average monthly cross-platform visits marginally
increased to 81.7 million per month (2025: 81.6 million).
Continued high levels of demand from car buyers,
despite continued economic uncertainty,
underpinned strong visit numbers across the year.
Cross-platform visits
1
Monthly average visits spent across all platforms
Linked to remuneration?
No
PROGRESS
Engagement, measured by total minutes spent
onsite, decreased by 2% to an average of 548 million
per month (2025: 557 million). We continue to
account for over 75% of all minutes spent on
automotive classified sites and were 11x larger
than our nearest competitor.
Cross-platform minutes
1,2
Monthly average minutes spent across all platforms
Linked to remuneration?
No
PROGRESS
The average number of retailer forecourts
advertising on our platform decreased 1% to 13,942
(2025: 14,013). This reflects both the difficult trading
conditions and the pushback related to the speed
and nature of our Deal Builder product roll-out.
Number of retailer forecourts
3
Average number per month
Linked to remuneration?
No
PROGRESS
The average number of FTEs declined 2% to 1,244,
as we stabilise resourcing levels currently required
to support the business.
Linked to remuneration?
No
PROGRESS
The average number of live cars advertised on
Autotrader increased to 451,000 (2025: 449,000).
Average underlying live used car stock declined
marginally in the year to 428,000 (2025: 429,000).
Therefore, growth was driven by new car stock,
which increased on average to 23,000 (2025: 20,000).
Live car stock
5
Average number per month
Linked to remuneration?
No
2026 PROGRESS
+0%
LINK TO RISKS
2, 4, 7, 8
2026 PROGRESS
-2%
LINK TO RISKS
2, 4, 7, 8
2026 PROGRESS
-1%
LINK TO RISKS
2, 4, 7, 8
2026 PROGRESS
-2%
LINK TO RISKS
6
2026 PROGRESS
0%
LINK TO RISKS
2, 4, 7, 8
Number of full-time equivalent
employees (‘FTEs’)
4
Average number (including contractors)
OUR PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES
Strategic report
Governance
Financial statements
Autotrader Group plc
Annual Report and Financial Statements 2026
18
72%
91%
97%
91%
2026
2025
2024
2023
43%
44%
44%
43%
2026
2025
2024
2023
43%
43%
42%
40%
2026
2025
2024
2023
20%
19%
17%
15%
2026
2025
2024
2023
9%
10%
6%
8%
2026
2025
2024
2023
144,124
93,100
98,941
79,540
2026
2025
2024
2023
Key performance indicators
continued
OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
Marketplace
Digital retailing
Platform
Working responsibly
1.
Macro risks
2.
Automotive economy, market and
business environment
3.
Legal and regulatory compliance
4.
Competition
5.
IT systems and cyber security
6.
Employees
7.
Brand and reputation
8.
Failure to innovate: disruptive technologies
and changing consumer behaviours
9.
Climate change
10.
Reliance on third parties and partners
1-10.
All principal risks could impact this KPI
CULTURAL
1.
Based on an all-employee survey in April 2026 asking
people to rate the statement “I am proud to work
for Autotrader”.
2.
We include those who have chosen not to specify their
ethnicity in the calculation.
3.
A leadership position is defined as ALT and their direct
reports minus positions with Senior or Principal job titles
within the Product & Tech function.
4.
The total amount of CO
2
emissions includes Scope 1, 2
and 3 across all relevant categories.
This KPI has been subject to limited assurance – see
plc.autotrader.co.uk/esg/policies-reports for a copy
of the report and methodology.
PROGRESS
This year we saw a reduction in our proud to work
at Autotrader KPI to 72%. We remain committed to
improving this measure over the next 12 months.
Employee engagement
1
% of employees who are proud to work at Autotrader
Linked to remuneration?
Yes
PROGRESS
We are committed to having a representative
workforce across all levels of our business and
recognise the importance of gender diversity.
Over the past 12 months, the percentage of our
employees who are women marginally decreased
to 43% (2025: 44%). We remain committed to
improving gender diversity across our organisation.
Women as a % of total staff
% as at March each year
Linked to remuneration?
Yes
PROGRESS
The percentage of employees who are women in
leadership roles has remained at 43% (2025: 43%).
Of the 100 people in leadership positions who
define their gender when asked, 43 are women.
We have well established development
programmes to increase our representation
across all levels of the organisation.
Women as a % of leadership
3
% as at March each year
Linked to remuneration?
Yes
PROGRESS
Over the past 12 months we have increased
the percentage of our employees who define
themselves as ethnically diverse to 20% (2025: 19%).
Of the 1,179 people who disclose their ethnicity
when asked, 242 are ethnically diverse. There were
60 employees (5%) who have not disclosed their
ethnicity or opted not to do so.