A new group has been formed called the Motor Traders Advertising Union (MTAU) in response to the rising fees being charged by Auto Trader.
Kevin Potticary, who owns a used car dealership in Bath, set up the group earlier this year, to fight back against Auto Trader. He formed the group in an attempt to bring the Auto Trader prices down to what he believes to be a more acceptable level. Potticary has closed his own account down, and urges other car dealers to do the same.
Auto Trader have increased the cost to advertise from £7.00 to £8.50 per car, and according to Potticary are having their “best year ever”.
Potticary explains, “This is a genuine attempt to get things put right. If you look at Auto Trader’s financials they are having their best year ever; we’re having our worst. This is an attempt at taking on the big boys – there is an alternative”.
The MTAU have set up a website and a Facebook page to interact with their 1,200 members.
According to the MTAU website, Auto Trader are currently losing 90 dealers a month. The website urges all other dealers to do the same, with the clear and direct message “You don’t need AUTOTRADER, pull out now”.
The MTAU have definitely caused a stir in the industry with many of Auto Traders competitors stepping up to offer all MTAU members special discounts to advertise on their own sites, companies such as Motors.co.uk, Autoweb, Vcars and Exchange and Mart.
Despite all the media attention and the claims from Potticary that many dealers have walked away, Auto Trader maintain that no dealers have cancelled.
Potticary states that Autotrader are seven times more expensive than the competition “They have got to put their prices back to a realistic level”, he says.
Garrath Hussey from Think Insurance says “Whatever happens, we applaud Kevin Potticary for taking a stand and fighting for the independent motor trader. In these tough times it is important that traders do what they can to keep their businesses turning over a profit. If nothing else, the MTAU have secured some excellent discounts for their members, something that cannot be underestaimted in the toughest economy we have seen in decades”.
This article was brought to you by Think Insurance, who specialise in both part time motor trade insurance as well as full time policies.