2026 annual report
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 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.
05 %
ARPR growth in the year, driven by our product and pricing levers
(2025: +5%)
155 m
technology and data service calls per month
(2025: 91m)
c. 6,700
Deal Builder customers live at the end of March 2026
(March 2025: c.2,000)
2040
is the year we are committed to achieving net zero
13,942
average number of retailer forecourts in the period
(2025: 14,013)
451,000
Live car stock average number per month in 2026
(2025: 449,000)
175,000
vehicles live at the end of March 2026
(March 2025: 84,000)
72 %
of Autotrader employees are proud to work at Autotrader
(2025: 91%)
Matt Davies
Chair
Nathan Coe
Chief Executive Officer
We are already seeing the application of AI improve the buyer experience, automate retailer tasks and enhance colleague productivity.
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.
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.
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
purpose-driven
strategy
Our
purpose-driven
strategy
Our purpose continues to be Driving Change Together. Responsibly. We deliver on this through our three strategic priorities detailed below, alongside our commitment to always working responsibly.
Marketplace
Be the best place to buy and sell a car
The largest and most engaged consumer audience underpins our network effect marketplace model.
Platform
Be the industry’s data and technology platform
Through a combination of our unique data set, scaleable technology and wide-ranging partnerships, we are uniquely placed to be the data and technology platform for UK automotive.
Digital retailing
Be the enabler for more to be done online
We are building products and services to enable consumers to do more
of the vehicle buying journey online.
Working responsibly
Be a responsible business
Across our three strategic focus areas we have working responsibly embedded into everything we do. This inter-relationship is well articulated by our purpose: Driving Change Together. Responsibly.
01
Marketplace
02
Platform
03
Digital retailing
04
Working responsibly
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 across the industry.
The environment
OUR AMBITION
Minimise our environmental impact to protect our business from climate change.
FOCUS AREAS
Our people & communities
OUR AMBITION
Be a responsible employer and maintain a strong, purpose-led culture.
FOCUS AREAS
Our governance & compliance
OUR AMBITION
Uphold the values of good corporate governance and risk management, underpinned by robust and effective policies.
FOCUS AREAS
RELEVANT STRATEGIC PILLARS
RELEVANT STAKEHOLDERS
– Consumers
– Customers
– Our people
RELEVANT STRATEGIC PILLARS
RELEVANT STAKEHOLDERS
– Investors
– Our People
Making the
right decisions
By understanding our stakeholders' diverse needs, we factor into boardroom discussions the potential impact our decisions could have on them.
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.
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:
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.
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.
OUTCOME
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.
Looking to join the team?
Looking to make a sale?
Looking to make a purchase?
Sign up to our email alerts service:
Join our news & views mailing list
or submit media-related enquiries:
