Category: Uncategorized

London, 30th August 2023 – Motorway, the UK’s fastest-growing used car marketplace, today announced the appointment of Oliver Grumell as the company’s first Commercial Director.

Oliver joined Motorway at the end of July after spending four years at Ocado where he led the roll-out of their solution to retailers across the world, including some of the biggest retailers in the US. Prior to Ocado, Oliver was at Tesco for 11 years where he held a range of roles, including running their marketplace business. 

In his role as Commercial Director at Motorway, Oliver will lead the commercial and operations teams for Motorway’s dealer side of the business, overseeing teams across the London and Brighton offices. Oliver will be instrumental in ensuring Motorway continues to provide Motorway’s dealer partners with the best stock acquisition experience, supporting their profitable growth. Oliver will report to James Wilson, Chief Operating Officer.

Motorway saw its sales more than double year on year from £841m in 2021 to £1.7bn in 2022. This rapid growth demonstrates continued demand for Motorway’s service, which matches people selling their car with car dealers looking to acquire stock. By removing the middlemen and bringing the process online, the platform delivers a better deal for both sides, with a more efficient experience, driven by technology. 

James Wilson, COO, Motorway, said:

“We’re delighted to have Oliver join the Motorway team. He brings a wealth of highly relevant experience from two very strong retail and e-commerce brands, both in the UK and internationally.  We still have lots of opportunities to innovate for our dealer partners, unlocking more high quality stock and delivering profitable growth for our dealers.  Oliver will play a critical role in this. It’s great to have him on the team and I’m excited to see what he will deliver!”

Oliver Grummell, Commercial Director, Motorway, said:

“Motorway has been on an incredible trajectory over the last few years – with sales more than doubling in the last year. They have created high-performing teams that always go the extra mile in delivering for their customers and dealer partners. I’m excited to join this award-winning business at such an exciting time and help them on their journey to become the world’s most trusted way to buy and sell cars.”

ENDS

About Motorway

Motorway is the UK’s fastest-growing used car marketplace. We connect people selling their car directly with our network of more than 5,000 verified car dealers, matching each seller on our platform with the dealer who most wants to buy their car. We help car owners sell their cars 100% online for a great price in as little as 24 hours, with their car collected from home for free, while supporting our car dealer partners to easily acquire the best used car stock.

London, 27th July 2023 – Motorway, the UK’s fastest-growing used car marketplace, today announced the appointment of Liz Kistruck as the company’s first Chief Financial Officer.

Liz joins from fashion technology platform Lyst, where she was CFO. Prior to Lyst, Liz was at Expedia Group for 14 years and held various roles including CFO for Hotels.com, CFO for Expedia for Business, as well as SVP Global Marketing Analytics. In these roles, she led large, multinational teams through significant growth and transformation.

Liz brings the perfect blend of experience, having led expansion at both world-leading internet companies and smaller start ups. Central to her role will be leadership of the finance and legal functions as well as strategic partner to the leadership on opportunities for growth and acceleration. As Motorway continues to grow market share at a rapid pace, Liz will help take Motorway to the next stage of that growth and profitability. 

Motorway saw its sales more than double year on year from £841m in 2021 to £1.7bn in 2022. This rapid growth demonstrates continued demand for Motorway’s service, which matches people selling their car with car dealers looking to acquire stock. By removing the middlemen and bringing the process online, the platform delivers a better deal for both sides, with a more efficient experience, driven by technology. 

Tom Leathes, Co-founder and CEO, Motorway, said:

“We’re thrilled to have Liz join the executive team at Motorway. We’re at a pivotal stage in our growth and Liz’s highly relevant marketplace and public markets experience, strong values and focused approach make her the perfect person for this role. I look forward to working closely with Liz to help shape the future of the business going forward.”

Liz Kistruck, CFO, Motorway, said:

“Motorway’s sustained growth over the past few years is truly impressive and I’m excited to join the team at such an important stage in the journey. Working with Tom and the rest of the management team, I’m looking forward to being part of leading Motorway on the next phase of its expansion.”

ENDS

About Motorway

Motorway is the UK’s fastest-growing used car marketplace. We connect people selling their car directly with our network of more than 5,000 verified car dealers, matching each seller on our platform with the dealer who most wants to buy their car. We help car owners sell their cars 100% online for a great price in as little as 24 hours, with their car collected from home for free, while supporting our car dealer partners to easily acquire the best used car stock.

London, 18th October 2023 – Motorway, the UK’s fastest-growing used car marketplace, today announced it is changing the hours of its daily live sale to enable dealers to start placing bids from 7pm the night before, until 3:30pm the following day.

To date, dealers have been given access to preview the next day’s sale from 7pm which meant they could select and save vehicles that went into the live sale at 8am the following day in advance. However, feedback from Motorway’s dealer partners revealed that they would prefer to have more flexibility to start bidding when convenient for them. 

From today, dealers can now bid from 7pm the night before, with the live sale ending the following day at 3:30pm, half an hour later than previously. This change will give dealers more time to bid and make it easier than ever to secure stock when convenient to them.

Dealers can also make the most of Motorway’s proxy bidding feature alongside this new earlier live sale time. Proxy bidding allows dealers to set a maximum bid for a vehicle during the sale, automatically bidding on their behalf in increments of £50 so they can be sure they never overpay to secure a vehicle.

Oliver Grummell, Commercial Director, Motorway, said:

“Thanks to the open and honest relationship we have with our dealer partners, they regularly provide us with valuable feedback on how we can improve their experience. And in turn, we can act quickly to make improvements to our platform to do just that. In this case, it’s extending the hours of our live sale to better suit our dealers’ schedule. We know that some of our dealers like to get ahead and review cars the night before the sale starts. Those dealers have been asking us to enable them to bid the night before as well, so that’s exactly what we’ve enabled. And coupled with our proxy bidding feature, our smart tech can do the heavy lifting for them, without ever over-bidding. This is just one of the ways we are laser-focused on making the dealer experience even better at Motorway.”

The team has launched a series of new products and features in 2023 to further improve the dealer experience for acquiring stock, including Motorway Pay – an industry-first solution that enables dealerson to fund a secure online wallet and then release money to private sellers instantly to complete transactions. Motorway has also introduced other innovations to further strengthen the platform this year, including new service history filters, purchase status tag filters, surfacing mechanical or electrical damage and MOT data. All of these new features help dealers save even more time when acquiring premium, privately owned used-car stock.

ENDS

About Motorway

Motorway is the UK’s fastest-growing used car marketplace. We connect people selling their car directly with our network of more than 5,000 verified car dealers, matching each seller on our platform with the dealer who most wants to buy their car. We help car owners sell their cars 100% online for a great price in as little as 24 hours, with their car collected from home for free, while supporting our car dealer partners to easily acquire the best used car stock.

London, 11th August 2023 – Motorway, the UK’s fastest growing used car marketplace, has today announced it will sponsor TNT Sports’ broadcast coverage of the Premier League, the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Europa Conference League. 

Motorway’s sponsorship will feature brand new creative idents, featuring much loved former players and TNT Sports’ pundits, Peter Crouch and Joe Cole.

Motorway’s nationwide network of dealers compete to give car seller’s their best price. The new creative idents dramatise the best price feeling sellers get when they sell their car on Motorway, by using famous football celebrations, including Peter Crouch’s robot and the Mbappe knee slide.

The two year sponsorship agreement, planned and brokered by Motorway’s media agency, MG OMD and Sky Media, will span more than 200 live games across TNT Sports’ coverage of the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 seasons. The sponsorship kicks off with the first game on the 12th of August, Arsenal v Nottingham Forest, and will include a comprehensive activation package, with the new whistle to whistle 5, 10 & 15 second creative idents before games, during half-time and after games, as well as sponsorship across live streams through the discovery+ app.

In the first year, Motorway’s partnership with TNT Sports is projected to reach 22% of the ABC1 audience and marks Motorway’s continued sponsorship of major live sports coverage, following their sponsorship of BT Sport’s coverage of the Premier League for the 2022/2023 season and their recent sponsorship of ITV’s coverage of the Guinness Six Nations across 2022 and 2023.

Lloyd Page, CMO of Motorway, said: “At Motorway, our network of dealers continues to compete to give car sellers their best price – now with more cars in our daily online sale, than ever before. Driving awareness and consideration of Motorway, as the definitive way to sell a car, by sponsoring one of the most loved and widely watched games, continues to be a perfect match for our business. This year we’ve created a series of creative idents, which bring to life the deals worth celebrating, combining the celebrations of both the world of football and when everyday car owners receive their best price through Motorway. We hope to help even more car owners sell their cars online for a great price, to our nationwide network of thousands of dealers.”

Tom Cocker, Executive Director at MG OMD, said: “We are delighted to work with our fantastic client, Motorway and media partners, Warner Bros Discovery and Sky Media to once again sponsor live, whistle to whistle coverage of the nation’s favourite football tournaments –  The Premier League and Europa League on TNT Sports. Building on our successful two year partnership, we are excited to help further fuel Motorway’s rapid growth journey as the definitive way to sell your car through a truly integrated sponsorship, including new idents featuring talent, which will allow us to engage and drive salience among key audiences at scale.” 

ENDS

About Motorway

Motorway is the UK’s fastest-growing used car marketplace. We connect people selling their car directly with our network of more than 5,000 verified car dealers, matching each seller on our platform with the dealer who most wants to buy their car. We help car owners sell their cars 100% online for a great price in as little as 24 hours, with their car collected from home for free, while supporting our car dealer partners to easily acquire the best used car stock.

About MG OMD

MG OMD is a media agency that offers clients unprecedented insight, specialism, security, and transparency. We are focused on using media to unlock our clients’ competitive advantage, delivering innovative, effective and award-winning work and campaigns that create difference that matters.

MG OMD is the most awarded media agency in both the history of the IPA Effectiveness Awards and Thinkbox’s TV Planning Awards and is currently Media Week’s Agency Partner of the Year for the third consecutive year and Thinkbox’s TV Planning Agency of the Year for the second year running.

• “Motorway Pay” enables dealers to fund a secure online wallet, and then release money to private sellers instantly once the vehicle is inspected
• The service handles seller bank details, documentation, clearing of finance and instant payment, drastically reducing admin and accelerating speed of transactions
• Free solution makes buying from private sellers easier than ever before, especially in high volumes

Motorway, the UK’s fastest-growing used car marketplace, today announced the launch of Motorway Pay – a new solution enabling dealers buying cars on Motorway to fund a secure online wallet and then release money to private sellers instantly to complete transactions. The industry first payment service has been designed to significantly improve the purchasing experience for dealers, making payment for vehicles fast, easy, transparent and secure. 

When buying from private sellers, dealers often have a lengthy process to go through on each individual transaction. This includes verifying documentation, setting up a new seller as a payee and handling finance settlement. With Motorway Pay, dealers can now pre-load their wallet prior to vehicle collection and then use these funds to immediately pay for the vehicle, at the click of a button. Motorway Pay takes care of all of the admin of collecting and verifying documents, setting up payees and confirming successful payment for both parties. This reduces wait time at the doorstep for the dealer and the seller; and immediate payment confirmations bring instant clarity and the necessary paper trail for both parties.

Motorway Pay also handles the clearance of outstanding finance. Previously, dealers have had to settle any finance separately to the seller’s payment. With over 30% of privately owned cars on Finance or PCP plans, this is often an added layer of complexity in the buying process. Now this can all be completed in just one transaction, with Motorway handling the settlement statement confirmation, set-up and confirmation of payment to the finance company. 

The service is free to dealers buying through Motorway, and includes an assurance policy to provide security to dealers that all payments go to the right place.

Initially soft-launched at the end of January this year with a test group of dealers, over 1,000 payments with a total value of over £20m have already been transacted through Motorway Pay, and the company is now starting to roll out the service to all dealers. Participating dealers in the initial test group have reported big savings in admin and time, and a better overall experience for them and the sellers. 

Vlad Radu, Vehicle Procurement and Operations Manager at Carsa, said:

“I’ve used Motorway Pay for over 100 transactions so far and it’s been flawless! Payments are always instant, and sellers are reassured via email confirmation from Motorway. It saves a lot of time for dealers and transport companies. It used to take us about 15 mins per seller and now I’m doing it while on the phone with the driver.”

Over £2bn of purchases have been completed through Motorway in the past 12 months and volumes continue to increase rapidly, with their sales now exceeding 1,000 cars a day on average, including many sales of over 1,500 cars a day in the past few weeks. With this growing volume, making it easy for dealers to buy in bulk has been a major focus for the company. 

James Wilson, Chief Operating Officer at Motorway, said:

“Simplifying the payments process has been high on our dealers’ wishlist for some time, so we are delighted to be able to launch this industry-first solution with Motorway Pay. Removing the hassle involved with paying private sellers has been a hard problem to solve, but we’ve built a powerful, secure and robust solution that makes buying cars on Motorway in high volumes easier than ever before. 

“Having road-tested Motorway Pay in Q1 with a small group of dealers, it’s clear this is a real game changer and a genuine first for the industry. We’re including the service at no additional cost to our dealers – underlining our ongoing commitment to delivering maximum value through technology, and supporting our dealer partners to grow their businesses profitably.

“We’re really pleased that the first phase has been so successful and now look forward to rolling out Motorway Pay across our dealer network.”

Dealers wanting to start using Motorway Pay can apply today to begin the onboarding process, by completing the wait list form here. 

About Motorway

Motorway is the UK’s fastest-growing used car marketplace. We connect people selling their car directly with our network of more than 5,000 verified car dealers, matching each seller on our platform with the dealer who most wants to buy their car. We help car owners sell their cars 100% online for a great price in as little as 24 hours, with their car collected from home for free, while supporting our car dealer partners to easily acquire the best used car stock.

• 45% of Londoners polled said they won’t be able to afford to pay the £12.50 to drive in London’s expanded Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ)
• Only 25% of Londoners polled, are aware the expansion has been confirmed for August 2023 
• The cost-of-living crisis means two thirds of motorists can’t afford to switch to an electric vehicle or compliant petrol car

Research commissioned by used-car marketplace Motorway has revealed that nearly one third (31%) of Londoners plan to sell their vehicle in the next six months because of costs associated with the confirmed ULEZ expansion alongside the rising cost of living. 

Londoners are growing increasingly concerned about the expansion, with two thirds (67%) admitting they are worried about how it will affect their personal finances. Two thirds (65%) of those surveyed won’t be able to afford to switch to an electric vehicle or compliant car, before the zone is expanded. 

With the current cost of living crisis, 30% of Londoners would be more likely to sell their vehicle in the next six months, with many more set to follow suit. When asked about the reasons for selling their petrol or diesel car, over one third (37%) of Londoners said they would sell in order to buy an electric vehicle in light of the potential expansion of ULEZ.  However, due to the rising cost of living, many will be unable to afford to make this switch.

What’s more, the data reveals that three quarters (75%) of those in the capital are unaware the planned ULEZ expansion for August 2023 has now been confirmed.

While many people are not aware of the changes to come, since the zone expansion was announced, Motorway saw a 150% increase in car owners checking their vehicle’s ULEZ compliance in one weekend alone.

Alex Buttle, co-founder of used-car marketplace Motorway, said: “With the current cost of living crisis and the confirmed extension of London’s ULEZ in August 2023, more drivers who use the zone are questioning their current car ownership and driving habits. With big changes on the horizon, for any car owners affected, they can check their car’s compliance with Motorway’s ULEZ checker – and if they need to sell, we can help them get a great price.”

To value and sell your car, visit motorway.co.uk.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Research conducted in December 2022 by Censuswide with a sample of 1,000 British car owners aged 18+ from London and Greater London.

About Motorway

Motorway is the UK’s fastest-growing used car marketplace. We connect people selling their car directly with our network of more than 5,000 verified car dealers, matching each seller on our platform with the dealer who most wants to buy their car. We help car owners sell their cars 100% online for a great price in as little as 24 hours, with their car collected from home for free, while supporting our car dealer partners to easily acquire the best used car stock.

Used-car marketplace Motorway has today announced the top 10 EV cities in the UK, with London and Nottingham coming out on top. It comes as EV sales continue to rise in the UK, with reports used EV sales grew 44.1% in Q3 2022*. 

The UK capital has been named as the city leading the charge on electric vehicle adoption, with EVs representing almost 25% of new and used car sales. It also paves the way with 8,600 public charging points. However, when it comes to charging availability, London ranks at 15, with the ratio of chargers to people standing at 1 to 1,672. Nottingham ranks second on the index, which was compiled by reviewing EV sales data by region, charging point availability and clean air policies of cities and towns across the UK.

With the 2030 electric switchover fast approaching, motorists are making a conscious effort with their car choices. Bedford ranked third for electric-vehicle readiness, following the development of its extensive net-zero strategy and its focus on installing public charging points. Meanwhile, Newcastle upon Tyne has been named as an electric vehicle hotspot with more electric cars sold in 2022 than anywhere else in the UK.

The top 10 electric car cities and towns revealed by Motorway:

1. London
2. Nottingham
3. Bedford
4. Manchester
5. Newcastle upon Tyne
6. Milton Keynes
7. Bristol
8. Oxford
9. Coventry
10. Southampton

As well as the climate-conscious benefits, there are several economic advantages to electric vehicles that Brits are capitalising on. Not only do they positively impact the environment, but lower running costs are likely one of the top draws to purchasing this fuel type, as motorists can save up to £650 on fuel and road tax** a year, compared to petrol and diesel cars. 

Alex Buttle, Co-Founder of online used-car marketplace Motorway said: “While I’m sure most car owners are considering making the transition to an EV at some point, there are several factors at play in the decision. One of those factors is whether or not you live in a city or town which has sufficient charging point infrastructure. We’ve created this comprehensive index to help car owners understand which areas and cities are truly leading the charge when it comes to EV-friendliness. As we look ahead to 2030, we’d love to see this list become more competitive, making it easier and more affordable than ever for car owners to make the switch.”

For an estimated valuation of your car, visit Motorway.co.uk.

And to read more about the EV cities leading the charge, visit https://motorway.co.uk/best-ev-cities 

*https://www.smmt.co.uk/2022/11/used-car-sales-q3-2022/ 

**Until 1st April 2025, when EVs  become liable for Vehicle Excise Duty, more commonly referred to as ‘road tax’. 

New online tool enables car owners to check and track the value of their car over time 

Motorway, the UK’s fastest-growing used car marketplace, has launched an online tool which allows car and van owners to track the value of their vehicle. 

The Car Value Tracker uses millions of vehicle value data points gathered by Motorway to generate an up-to-date valuation for any vehicle, along with 24 months of historic pricing. Motorists can also opt-in to receive monthly updates to track their vehicle’s value over time. 

This new tool, the first of its kind in the market, gives car owners the confidence needed to pinpoint the right time to sell, by tracking how their car depreciates and appreciates according to market trends. 

Previously, car depreciation almost always followed a downward trend but, over the past two years, the industry has experienced unprecedented changes. Global supply chain shortages, a slow down in new car production and a rapidly changing economy have resulted in used-cars holding their value at a better rate – and sometimes even going up in value. Due to these changes, it’s now more important than ever for car owners to track the value of vehicles. 

How it works

Using advanced data science techniques, the Car Value Tracker leverages historic data from thousands of similar cars that have sold through the Motorway platform, and hundreds of thousands of bids from dealers, to model each individual car’s valuation history.  Car owners will be presented with an interactive graph showing their car’s value today and how it has depreciated – or appreciated – over the previous 24 months. If the car owner has valued their vehicle on Motorway in the past, those valuations are also included on the graph. 

Key features: 

• A free, up-to-date valuation for any car or van
• An interactive graph with 24 months of historic pricing data, showing how a vehicle’s value has changed over time
• Opportunity to sign up for monthly email alerts, to keep up-to-date with the vehicle’s value 
• Ability to value and track multiple vehicles (perfect for multi car households!)

Harry Jones, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Motorway said: “At Motorway, we connect car owners with our nationwide network of dealers, to help them get a great price for their car. The Car Value Tracker is an exciting innovation, leveraging our extensive data and automotive knowledge to help car owners keep tabs on the value of their vehicles over time, and make confident decisions about selling their car, when the time is right.”

To track the value of your car, visit motorway.co.uk/car-value-tracker.