Auto Trader increased profits and turnover for the year ending 31 March 2026 although it did see a cut in forecourt numbers due to trading conditions and resistance to its Deal Builder roll-out.
The group saw pre-tax profits up 3% to £388.8m on turnover ahead 4% to £624.3m. The number of dealer forecourts on its books fell 1% to 13,942 and the average revenue per retailer rose 5% to £2,995.
Auto Trader the 1% fall off in retailer numbers down to more difficult cost-related trading conditions and concerns with Deal Builder.
That said, it continued to scale Deal Builder, with over 6,700 retailers on the product compared to 2,000 in March last year and 175,000 vehicles live at the end of March (March 2025: 84,000).
On Deal Builder it commented: “Our rollout of Deal Builder in the Autumn was met with resistance from some retailers.
“We are evolving our retailer engagement strategy to ensure that our customers have a voice in how we shape our products, which includes Customer Advisory Groups with diverse representation from across our retailer customers.”
Autotrader CEO Nathan Coe said: “We continued to grow both revenue and profits this year, despite a challenging backdrop.
“Our competitive position has strengthened, with six times more time spent on Autotrader than all our main competitors combined.”
