Auto Trader was founded in 1975 by John Madejski. Madejski brought this idea back from the United States, and set up the business with Paul Gibbons in 1977. The first Auto Trader to be established was Hurst's Thames Valley Trader in 1977. This was followed by the publication of a second title, Southern Auto Trader, which launched in 1981; the business was then known as Hurst Publishing. European venture capitalists 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. In April 2011, the business became the focus of an online petition by a group called the Motor Traders Advertising Union, proposing a mass pull out by motor dealers in the country frustrated by increases in advertising charges. In October 2013, AutoTrader.co.za a subsidiary of the Auto Trader Group, was sold off to become an independent South African company.
Buyout
In January 2014, Apax Partners bought the business from Guardian Media Group for £600m. In March 2014, the company re branded, and became known as Auto Trader, and in March 2015, Auto Trader Group launched an initial public offering, with a market capitalisation of about £2bn.
Operations
Printed magazine
The magazine was published weekly in a number of regional editions. Circulation peaked at 368,000 in January 2000, dropping to an average of 87,000 copies a week in July 2012, and down to 27,000 in March 2013. In June 2013, after thirty six years, the final editions of the printed magazine were published, with the company concentrating on its online business.
Website
Autotrader.co.uk was launched in 1996, allowing users to buy or sell a car online. The site lets users search for cars and other motor vehicles using their postcode. Autotrader.co.uk is the busiest automotive web site in the United Kingdom, which attracts some 10.3 million unique users per month.
Mobile
Auto Trader has had a mobile, initially a Wireless Application Protocol site, since 2002. In July 2008, Auto Trader launched a.mobi site, and in July 2009, they launched separate versions for differing handset capability levels. Auto Trader developed their mobile offering further from March 2010, when they released applications for users to search for vehicles using a Windows Mobile, iOS or Android device.
