2022
What Car? partnership
As of July, we began powering the used car search function on both What Car? and its sister site, Autocar.
Who we are
Our history
We’ve evolved from an entrepreneurial print media business into one of the UK's leading digital businesses
2022
Office for National Statistics partnership
Began partnership with the ONS to power its official measures of inflation, including the Consumer Prices Index.
2022
Autorama acquisition
We acquired Autorama/Vanarama, one of the UK’s largest transactional marketplaces for leasing new vehicles.
2021
Automotive Carbon Literacy Toolkit
At COP26 we launched the first ever Automotive Carbon Literacy Toolkit, funded and developed in partnership with the Carbon Literacy Trust, and designed in close collaboration with leading retailers and manufacturers.
2021
Auto Trader Connect
We launched a powerful stock management solution designed to enable retailers to update multiple back-end and consumer facing systems with advanced data in real-time.
2021
Guaranteed Part-Exchange
We launched our Guaranteed Part-Exchange (‘GPX’) and Instant Offer products. GPX enables the consumer to get a guaranteed price for their part-exchange, while Instant Offer enables private sellers to sell their car at a guaranteed price.
2020
Retailer COVID support
Throughout the pandemic, we supported the industry in every way we could, including product developments to enable digital retailing, regularly sharing data and insight to support our customers’ business decisions, through to the financial support provided with discounted packages, free periods and deferred payment terms.
2020
AutoConvert acquisition
We acquired AutoConvert, a finance, insurance and compliance software platform with integrated customer relationship management solutions.
2020
Market Insight tool launched
We launched Market Insight, a powerful tool to help retailers identify and adapt to market trends as they happen.
2019
KeeResources acquisition
We acquired KeeResources, a trusted provider of software, data and digital solutions to the automotive industry.
2019
Launched new retailer products
We launched two new products to retailers: Text Chat and Vehicle Check. These products benefit both consumers and retails, helping build trust between the two.
2019
New Car launched
We launched our brand new car proposition, to make us as synonymous with new cars as we are with used.
2018
Joint venture with Cox Automotive
We created a joint venture with Cox Automotive, Dealer Auction, to provide an innovative digital marketplace for wholesale vehicles.
2018
Re-launched our Managing products
i-Control became Retail Accelerator, our most powerful tool yet, which helps retailers manage their forecourts using unrivalled data and insight.
2017
Monthly price calculator launched
We extended our finance solution to allow consumers to search for their next car based on their ideal monthly budget, reflecting the changing way that consumers are buying cars.
2017
Acquisition of MTD
In April 2017 we welcomed Motor Trade Delivery Ltd into the Auto Trader team, helping to grow our trade-to-trade proposition.
2017
Price transparency
We launched Price Indicator labels on our adverts to help consumers see whether a car is priced competitively.
2016
Driving into finance
We gained FCA authorisation, enabling us to show the monthly borrowing cost of a vehicle based on a retailer’s preferred lender. This marked another step on our journey of making the process of buying and selling a car smoother and easier.
2016
Market Report launch
In February 2016 we launched the first edition of our Market Report, a biannual review of the UK’s new and used car market. The report has grown in scale and influence and now offers data, insights and market commentary from Auto Trader and our industry peers.
2015
Admission to the London Stock Exchange
On 24th March, Auto Trader listed on the London Stock Exchange.
2015
Expert valuations
We launched our free valuation tool, giving consumers the most accurate view in the market of the price of their car.
2014
New offices open
We created new working areas by moving staff to state-of-the-art offices in central Manchester and King’s Cross, London.
2014
Happy 35th birthday
What started as a regional magazine had become one of the UK’s most recognisable automotive brands. Happy birthday!
2013
The presses go quiet
In June 2013, the final print edition of Auto Trader rolled off the presses. The time was right to become a 100% digital business.
2013
A fresh look
We enjoyed enormous brand awareness but our logo was ageing by the day. We created a modern logo that’s still recognisably Auto Trader.
2011
UK consolidation
We began disposing of the parts of our business that addressed non-UK markets. This was completed in 2013, giving our team renewed focus.
2011
Customers share more
Customer reviews were introduced to Auto Trader, allowing owners to start telling others what they really think of their cars.
2011
For Android and iPad
Having proven the value of our iPhone app, we developed dedicated apps for the popular iPad and Android platforms.
2011
For new cars too
We launched our website for new cars, giving visitors an easy way to compare and find a brand new car.
2010
Bigger on the small screen
Now there’s an app for that: 300,000 people downloaded our iPhone app in the first 30 days after it was launched.
2010
Helping dealers online
Our Dealer Websites platform launched, making it easy for dealers to create professional websites.
2009
Big on the small screen
With smart phones becoming widely used, we launched a dedicated mobile website to help people search on smaller screens.
2008
Hinting at the future
We added co.uk to our logo, acknowledging that people preferred to search for cars online rather than in a magazine.
2007
Digital matches print
Our digital revenue matched our print revenue for the first time. It was clear where the future lay, and we accelerated our digital transition strategy.
2007
Like us or follow us
As Facebook and Twitter use exploded, we joined these social networks and started posting to them. Can we get a retweet?
2007
A brand-new website
We put enormous effort into creating our new website, which allowed us to show the exact number of vehicles available for every selection.
2000
Two become one
In 2000, the two separate parts of Auto Trader merged into a single company, called Trader Media Group.
1996
Our first website
A small team created the first Auto Trader website — two years before even Google was conceived.
1996
The magazine goes digital
Well, sort of. We became the first UK publisher to switch to automatic layout software to produce our magazines.
1995
We cross the Irish Sea
By 1995, Auto Trader titles covered the whole of the UK. The magazine also became available in Ireland for the first time.
1988
Auto Trader is born
We became Auto Trader in 1988, after a short spell as Auto Mart & Trader. At this point we had a number of regional magazines, which were all renamed.
1983
Guardian Media Group joins
Guardian Media Group (GMG) joined Auto Trader, as it had been considering launching a similar venture in the north of England.
1977
Our entrepreneurial roots
The history of Auto Trader starts back in 1977 when entrepreneur John Madejski launched a small regional classified advertising magazine called Thames Valley Trader. He brought the idea to the UK after a visit to the US.
