Autotrader delivers 1 million high-intent leads as Buying Signals tool evolves
Autotrader has revealed that more than 1 million enquiries have now been enriched with Buying Signals since its launch late last year[1], helping retailers more easily identify and prioritise the buyers most likely to convert.
Building on this momentum, Autotrader is continuing to enhance Buying Signals as part of its H2 product roadmap - focused on giving retailers earlier, clearer insight into real-time demand.
Looking ahead, these enhancements will further evolve Buying Signals to provide aggregated, anonymised insight into buyer interest before an enquiry is even made, helping inform pricing, stocking and lead management decisions, with initial developments expected to roll out later this year.
Partnerships in practice
Autotrader’s product roadmap is being shaped directly by feedback from its Customer Advisory Groups, which launched in April, and brought together 25 franchise and independent retailers. These sessions create a direct line between retailers and Autotrader’s senior leadership, ensuring product priorities reflect real-world forecourt challenges.
This direct feedback loop has already informed product changes, including refinements to Deal Builder. These include the introduction of Reservation Requests, which allow serious buyers to signal intent, while giving retailers greater flexibility over lead management and better visibility of their most engaged leads through Buying Signals.
Deploying practical AI powered by unmatched data
Alongside ongoing enhancements to Buying Signals, Autotrader’s H2 roadmap will also include refinements to Price Indicator, designed to give retailers greater flexibility while supporting confident, data-led pricing decisions.
Buying Signals and Price Indicator are examples of how Autotrader is applying the UK’s most robust automotive dataset to develop practical tools across the car buying and selling journey. From capturing audiences higher up the purchase funnel via a direct ChatGPT app integration, to driving greater efficiencies with its AI-powered suite of Co-Driver tools—which have already saved the industry over 20 years of manual admin time[2] - Autotrader is focused on helping retailers operate more efficiently and respond more effectively to demand.
Buying Signals is a strong example of how we’re working in partnership with retailers to develop tools that reflect real-world forecourt needs. Through our Customer Advisory Groups, we’re able to collaborate directly with partners to shape our roadmap and ensure we’re building solutions that genuinely support their businesses.
"By combining that feedback with the UK’s most robust automotive dataset and technology, we’re enabling retailers to better understand demand, make more confident decisions and ultimately drive stronger performance, while ensuring they have the control and insight they need to maximise performance in a strong and increasingly competitive market.”
Buying Signals have been really powerful when managing our leads. They give a clearer picture of what customers have been researching, which helps us qualify enquiries earlier and have more relevant conversations.
Alex Davison, Director at Kesgrave Cars, commented on the impact of Buying Signals
Capitalising on a highly resilient retail market
These margin-protecting tech updates arrive against the backdrop of a resilient UK automotive market. Autotrader’s latest data shows the used car market remains in robust health, with retail prices recording their strongest year-on-year growth in nearly three years and a used EV tipping point ending 40 months of price contractions. In the new car market, smart pricing and strong competition are also helping unlock pent-up private demand, with Autotrader data showing a 35% year-on-year increase in new car leads in recent months.
[1] November 2025
[2] Calculated based on a conservative saving of around 5 minutes per AI vehicle description generated
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