Autotrader have been around since 1977. As a company, we've moved from an entrepreneurial print
media business into the UK’s largest digital automotive platform.
Here are some highlights:
- 1977 - Entrepreneur John Madejski launches a small regional classified advertising magazine called. Thames Valley Trader, after getting the idea from a trip to the US
- 1983 - Guardian Media Group (GMG) joins Autotrader because it had been considering launching a similar magazine in the north of England.
- 1988 - The small number of regional magazines operating under Auto Mart & Trader are renamed and Auto Trader is officially born!
- 1995 - Autotrader titles are already covering the whole of the UK, but this is the year we crossed the sea and became available in Ireland
- 1996 - Autotrader becomes the first UK publisher to switch to automatic layout software to produce its magazines
- 2000 - The two separate parts of Autotrader merge into a single company called Trader Media Group.
- 2007 - Our digital revenue matches our print revenue for the first time and Autotrader joins the social media sphere.
- 2010 - Within its first 30 days of launch, 300,000 people downloaded the iPhone app.
- 2013 - In June, the final print edition of the Autotrader magazine is released and we became a 100% digital business
- 2015 - On 24 March, Autotrader is listed on the London Stock Exchange
- 2019 - Autotrader launches Text Chat and Vehicle Check
- 2022 - Autorader acquires Autorama, one of the UK's largest transactional marketplaces for leasing new vehicles
- 2024 - We launch the Co-Driver toolkit. AI-powered solutions underpinned by the full scale of Autotrader Intelligence