Auto Trader Group Explained

Auto Trader Group
Type:Public
Traded As:
FTSE 100 Component
Foundation:1975
Founders:John Madejski, Paul Gibbons, Peter Taylor
Location City:Manchester
Location Country:England, UK
Area Served:United Kingdom
Industry:Automotive trading via Internet and mobile
Products:Vehicle advertisements
Revenue: £500.2 million (2023)[1]
Operating Income: £277.6 million (2023)
Net Income: £233.9 million (2023)
Subsid:Autorama (acquired in 2022)Carzone (former)AutoTrader.co.za (former)

Auto Trader Group plc, commonly known as Auto Trader, is a British automotive online marketplace and classified advertising business. Auto Trader is listed on the London Stock Exchange trading under the ticker symbol AUTO, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

History

Early history: twentieth century

Auto Trader was founded in 1975 by an English businessman, John Madejski.[2] [3] Together with his business partners Paul Gibbons and Peter Taylor, he founded Thames Valley Trader in 1977.[4]

It was rebranded Auto Trader in 1988. The first title was followed by the publication of a second one, Southern Auto Trader.[5]

The company launched a website, Autotrader.co.uk, in 1996, giving people the ability to buy or sell a car online.[6]

British international investment firm BC Partners bought a stake in the business from John Madejski in July 1998 for £260m; then Guardian Media Group, who had acquired Automart in 1982, merged that business with Hurst Publishing in May 2000 so creating Trader Media.[7]

21st century and evolution to digital only

Auto Trader launched a mobile website in 2002, initially using the WAP protocol.[8]

In July 2008, Auto Trader launched a .mobi site,[9] and in July 2009, separate versions for differing handset capability levels were released.[10]

Auto Trader developed its mobile offering further from March 2010, releasing applications enabling users to search for vehicles on iOS, Android and Windows Mobile devices using augmented reality features.[11]

In April 2011 a group called the Motor Traders Advertising Union launched an online petition and proposed a mass pull out by auto dealers who objected to an increase in the fee for a dealership to advertise a car, from £7 to £8.50, before any discounts for bulk advertisers.[12] [13] [14]

Sales of the print magazine dwindled in line with the decline of the print industry. By July 2012, circulation had dropped to an average of 87,000 copies a week[15] and down to 27,000 in March 2013.[16]

In June 2013, after thirty six years, the final editions of the printed magazine were published, with the company concentrating on its online business.[17]

In October 2013, AutoTrader.co.za (Auto Trader South Africa) a subsidiary of the Auto Trader Group, was sold off to become an independent South African company.[18] [19] [20] [21] [22]

In January 2014, Apax Partners bought the business from Guardian Media Group for £600m.[23]

In March 2014, the company rebranded, and became known as Auto Trader,[24] and in March 2015, Auto Trader Group launched an initial public offering, with a market capitalisation of about £2bn and floated on the London Stock Exchange on the FTSE250.[25]

In 2020 it was reported that Auto Trader had created a data lake and intelligence platform using services including Amazon Web Services and Google's Looker, and was working to foster a ‘culture of data’ internally by setting up a data academy for employees.[26]

Auto Trader granted four months of free advertising to its retailer customers to support them during the COVID-19 pandemic.[27] [28]

In 2022, Auto Trader began a partnership with the Office for National Statistics sharing its used car pricing data to power its official measures of inflation, including the Consumer Prices Index.[29]

Also in 2022, Auto Trader acquired Autorama, owner of Vanarama, one of the UK’s largest transactional marketplaces for leasing new vehicles.[30] [31]

Acquisitions

Auto Trader’s acquisitions
Company Year of acquisition Acquired company’s activities
TNT Group 2000[32] Publisher of titles for Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans in the UK
Carzone.ie 2005[33] Website for motor dealers and consumers in Ireland
2nd Byte 2006[34] Provides used car digital marketing services to car manufacturers and franchised dealers
Deltapoint Associates 2012[35] Automotive intelligence solutions
Motor Trade Delivery 2017[36] Vehicle moving service
Dealer Auction 2018[37] Formed a joint venture with Cox Automotive providing an online B23B auction platform for cars
KeeResources 2019[38] Provider of software, vehicle data, and digital solutions to the automotive industry
AutoConvert 2020[39] Finance, insurance and compliance software platform
Autorama 2022[40] Online vehicle leasing platform

Marketplace and products

Online marketplace

At the core of Auto Trader is its online marketplace, where consumers buy and sell cars and other vehicles, and where car dealerships advertise and sell their stock, both new and used, to consumers. Retailers pay to advertise vehicles, and consumers also pay a fee unless the transaction is less than £1,000.[41]

AutoTrader.co.uk website

The Auto Trader website was ranked first in the UK in the vehicles category by Similarweb and Eighth globally in January 2024.[42]

Mobile app

As of February 2024, Auto Trader's mobile app had ratings of 4.8/5[43] on the Apple App Store and 4.2/5 on Google Play.[44]

YouTube channel

Auto Trader operates a YouTube channel where it publishes videos such as car reviews, car comparisons, drag races, and buying guides. Television presenter and automotive journalist Rory Reid joined Auto Trader as YouTube Director in December 2019, and fronts the videos on the channel.[45]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Full year results for the year ended 31 March 2023. Autotrader. 11 February 2024.
  2. Web site: Auto Trader valued at £2.35bn. Manchester Evening News. 19 March 2015. 20 February 2017.
  3. Web site: Paul Gibbons Reveals How He Launched Auto Trader, And Why He's Now Moved Onto Golf Resorts. 30 November 2012. Huffington Post. 13 June 2015.
  4. Web site: Private equity driver gears up for Auto Trader flotation. 27 February 2015 . The Independent. 20 October 2018.
  5. Web site: Sixthings we will miss about Auto Trader Magazine . 22 May 2013 . 13 June 2015.
  6. Web site: AutoTrader web site switches to Linux . computing.co.uk . 12 August 2009 . 13 June 2015.
  7. Web site: GMG finds £600m deal in Auto Trader . 7 August 2003 . 13 June 2015.
  8. Web site: Digital: Auto Trader eyes WAP site revamp. brandrepublic.com. 13 June 2015.
  9. Web site: Autotrader to revamp its mobile site. Mobile Industry Review. 18 July 2008. 13 June 2015.
  10. Web site: Autotrader to revamp its mobile site. Mobile Industry Review. 18 July 2008. 13 June 2015.
  11. Web site: Auto-Trader app brings augmented reality features to second-hand car hunting. Tech Digest. 15 March 2010. 13 June 2015.
  12. News: James Ashton and Ed Kemp. Auto Trader faces fee row. https://web.archive.org/web/20140903075957/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Companies/article611304.ece. dead. 3 September 2014. 28 August 2014. 24 April 2011.
  13. News: Hutchinson. Curtis. Auto Trader faces dealer boycott. 28 August 2014. 26 April 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140903043650/http://www.motortrader.com/automotive-news/auto-trader-faces-dealer-challenge/. 3 September 2014. dmy-all.
  14. News: Baggott. James. MTAU & Auto Trader clash. 28 August 2014. 2 November 2011.
  15. Web site: Rushton. Katherine. Auto Trader to be axed. Daily Telegraph. 28 April 2014. 1 July 2012.
  16. Web site: Clancy. Rebecca. Auto Trader print edition to stop as focus shifts to digital. Daily Telegraph. 28 April 2014. 7 May 2013.
  17. Web site: Auto Trader to be axed. The Telegraph. 1 July 2012. 13 June 2015.
  18. News: Sowetan Live. Good management leads to proudly South African product. 15 October 2013.
  19. News: Auto Trader confirms plans for £2bn initial public offering. The Financial Times. 9 March 2015.
  20. News: Trader Media Group buoyed by digital growth. The Guardian. 28 November 2011.
  21. News: Fundamentals for Auto Trader Group Ord 150p Wi . https://web.archive.org/web/20210306164447/https://shares.telegraph.co.uk/fundamentals/?epic=AUTO/ . dead . 6 March 2021 . The Telegraph . 1 December 2015 .
  22. News: How to sell your car. Auto Advice. 17 February 2014.
  23. News: Christopher Williams, and Ashley Armstong. Guardian Media Group gets £600m for AutoTrader stake. 28 August 2014. 21 Jan 2014. telegraph-2014-01-21.
  24. News: Haggerty. Angela. Trader Media Group to change name to Auto Trader as company streamlines brands under unified digital banner. 22 August 2014. TheDrum. 12 March 2014. thedrum-namechange.
  25. News: Mance, Henry. 15 March 2015. Auto Trader confirms plans for £2bn initial public offering. The Financial Times. 11 May 2015.
  26. News: Derek. du Preez. 30 July 2020. Auto Trader is creating a 'culture of data' to democratise data use internally. 15 December 2022.
  27. News: 17 April 2020. Auto Trader continues fee freeze as coronavirus lockdown extends into May. December 10, 2022.
  28. News: Davies. Ellis. 6 January 2021. Auto Trader to provide free advertising in response to latest lockdown. December 10, 2022.
  29. News: Sands. Helen. 28 June 2022. Using Auto Trader car listings data to transform consumer price statistics, UK. December 10, 2022.
  30. News: Gareth. Robert. 22 March 2022. Auto Trader buys Vanarama owner Autorama. December 10, 2022.
  31. News: Auto Trader Group Plc Announces Acquisition Of Autorama (UK) Limited. December 10, 2022.
  32. News: Free weekly title TNT Magazine celebrates 25 years. 17 November 2008. Campaign Live. 13 February 2023.
  33. News: Micheau. Ed. 17 September 2005. Guardian Media Group drives €5m takeover of Carzone motor website. 15 December 2022.
  34. News: Auto Trader Improves Searches and Provides Boost for New Car Advertisers. 15 December 2022. ”B2B brands included in the Trader Media Group stable include: Auto Trader, RAZSOR, 2nd Byte and Autotrade-mail”.
  35. News: Deltapoint Drives Forward Auto Trader Deal. 15 December 2022.
  36. News: Auto Trader snaps up Macclesfield-based Motor Trade Delivery. 15 December 2022.
  37. News: Davis. Ellis. 15 January 2020. Cox and Auto Trader collaborate on Dealer Auction wholesale platform. 15 December 2022.
  38. News: Roberts. Gareth. 2 October 2019. KeeResources bought by Auto Trader Group. 15 December 2022.
  39. News: Sharpe. Tom. 31 July 2020. Auto Trader looks to automate car sales journey with AutoConvert acquisition. 15 December 2022.
  40. News: Roberts. Gareth. 22 March 2022. Auto Trader buys Vanarama owner Autorama. 15 December 2022.
  41. News: Steiner. Rupert. 7 May 2021. Auto Trader's Growth Is Accelerating Online. That Will Drive the Stock Up.. 15 December 2022.
  42. News: Similar Web.
  43. News: Auto Trader on Apple.
  44. News: Auto Trader on Google Play.
  45. News: Woodhouse. Andrew. 12 December 2019. Ex Top Gear host Rory Reid joins AutoTrader. 14 December 2022.