Rapid growth leads to referral partnership with MoneySuperMarket 

• 4x YoY sales growth: Mar 20 – Mar 21
• Over £500m in sales transactions in the last year – £2.5m in car sales a day 
• Upwards of 4,000 car sales a month
• Record of £10m in weekly sales in Mar 21
• 2.5m consumers registered on the platform
• Doubled headcount in a year to 130

Motorway, the UK’s fastest-growing online marketplace for used cars, today reveals its revenues have more than tripled in size in a year as it plays a key role in the digital transformation of the auto trade industry.

The three year old startup connects consumers looking to sell their car with car dealers looking to acquire stock.  By removing the traditional middlemen and moving the process entirely online, Motorway’s service gets the best deal for both parties rapidly.

As millions of consumers go online to sell their car and dealers turn their back on physical auctions in favour of a digital alternative, Motorway has seen rapid YoY sales growth, generating £2.5m of car sales a day and completing over £500m in sales transactions in the last year. This translates to upwards of 200 sales a day and 4,000+ sales a month, with sales in the last week of March hitting a record £10m. 

While national lockdowns due to COVID-19 have accelerated its growth, Motorway’s continued efforts to improve the customer experience through its powerful technology platform have ensured sales have tripled in just 12 months.  There are now 2.5m registered UK consumers on the platform and the number of verified dealers in its nationwide network has doubled to over 3,000. 

Motorway’s strong financial performance has been matched with increasing its headcount to 130, double that of the previous year. 

On the back of this growth, Motorway has now agreed a referral partnership with MoneySuperMarket that will drive visitors to sell their car through Motorway. Visitors to MoneySuperMarket interested in selling their car can click straight through to Motorway to receive an instant valuation based on their latest data. Motorway will then find the best offer from over 3,000 verified dealers and will sell the car for free in as little as 24 hours.  

Tom Leathes, CEO of Motorway, says:

“The car industry is undergoing a massive transformation towards digital and the incredible growth we have delivered in the last year demonstrates that Motorway is at the absolute heart of this. Providing car sellers with a fast and convenient way to sell their car for the best price, without leaving home has resonated with millions of people across the UK. And now, through our new partnership with MoneySuperMarket, we will bring our service to an even greater audience, as we continue our mission to ensure selling a car becomes more efficient and enjoyable for everyone involved.

“With major investment in our technology, team and service, we’re now completing over 4,000 successful car sales a month for sellers and dealers, completely remotely.  So why would anyone ever go back?”

Kate Devine, Head of Car Insurance at MoneySuperMarket said:

“Our mission is to help households save money and our new partnership with Motorway gives us another way to do just that, expanding our offer.  Motorway are reinventing the way people sell their cars online, helping those selling their cars to find a great deal by comparing offers from thousands of dealers.  Motorway’s product simplifies the process of selling a car, taking away the hassle with their innovative approach, meaning many people can sell their car in as little as 24 hours, with free home collection and instant payment.”

Hugo Burge, Investor and Non-Executive Chairman of Motorway, says:

“The global pandemic has forced companies everywhere to be more agile, more relevant and more customer-focused. Internet brands are built on these pillars and Motorway is a powerful example of how to do it right. Rather than with a huge marketing spend to date, their accelerated growth has been driven by combining a great product with amazing reviews and incredible word of mouth. This impressive financial performance demonstrates that their commitment to making the market more transparent to find everyone a good deal is really paying off.”

Motorway, the UK’s fastest-growing online marketplace for used cars has appointed Lloyd Page as its first CMO.

For the last two years, Page has been Marketing Director at MoneySuperMarket where he played an integral role in the brand relaunch and Get Money Calm brand positioning, including the introduction of the Money Calm Bull creative platform. Page will now be spear-heading the execution of Motorway’s brand vision and marketing strategy, turning Motorway into a household name.  

Lloyd Page began his career at Virgin Trains in 2000, before taking on a global role at Vodafone. He then transitioned into senior brand and digital marketing roles at John Lewis. He joined Virgin Media as Director of Brand and Brand Communications in 2016, until 2018 when he moved to MoneySuperMarket.

Page has joined Motorway, a fast-growing digital disruptor of the car market, at a time when the brand has seen unprecedented growth – completing thousands of car sales a month as more consumers than ever flock to the platform to sell their car to a verified dealer in a fast and contact-free manner.  The team has doubled to over 100 staff in the last year. 

Tom Leathes, CEO of Motorway, says:

“Lloyd is joining us at a time when the car industry is undergoing a massive transformation towards digital and Motorway is at the absolute heart of this. We’ve always been a 100% online business, helping customers sell their car quickly, conveniently and for the best price, without leaving home.

“We’ve had an incredible year of growth and development and now it’s time to take our brand to the next level. That’s where Lloyd comes in. His big brand experience from John Lewis and Virgin Media through to MoneySuperMarket is the perfect combination of what we need – a brand and customer-led marketing guru, combined with unparalleled digital expertise.”

Lloyd Page, CMO of Motorway, says:

“The global pandemic has been a challenging time for most brands – finding a way to solve a real customer need and execute on this has been the key to driving brand engagement and business growth.  And Motorway has nailed this – they’ve disrupted an industry that was in desperate need of modernising and they’ve simplified the confusing and time-consuming process of selling a car, as well as making it safer during national lockdowns. 

“Whilst we will continue to be restless in developing our offer, the customer proposition and outcome Motorway provides drives real customer value. So our next step will be to scale up and evolve our brand and marketing strategy, making Motorway the first port of call for anyone looking to sell a used car.”

We are excited to announce we’ve launched a brand new website to make it easier than ever to sell your car.

Find your best offer from 3,000+ verified dealers and you could get £1,000 more than part exchange or selling direct to a dealer yourself. Selling your car is always completely free with Motorway, with no service fees, free home collection and instant same-day payment.   

Since 2017, we’ve helped thousands of people sell their car and are very proud of our ‘Excellent’ rating on Trustpilot, with over 8,000 verified reviews.

Selling via Motorway’s nationwide network of verified dealers is subject to vehicle eligibility.  For those vehicles we can’t sell directly to dealers, we will offer an alternative selling route with a trusted partner.

Ready to sell your car? Get started here.

FAQ

I have a current offer for my vehicle from an online car buyer which I am considering, can I still access and accept the offer?

• The offer from the specific buyer will still be accessible and available for you to accept, subject to the details relating to timing etc.  However, you will not be able to access other options other than from The Car Buying Group on our website.

I have a current offer from The Car Buying Group or Car Take Back, can I still access and accept the offer?

• The offer from The Car Buying Group or Car Take Back will still be accessible and available for you to accept. 

We are excited to announce that we have launched a new radio advert today across commercial UK radio.

The ad features a voiceover by Neil Morrissey, one of the UK’s most well-known actors. Neil is familiar from numerous TV programmes including Men Behaving Badly, Line Of Duty, The Night Manager, Skins and Bob The Builder.

The creative called ‘All In One Place’, puts you in the heart of a live car auction where the amount of money you get offered for your vehicle keeps on going up and up.

The experience is explained as being just like selling with Motorway – the comparison site to sell your car!

We are really pleased with the concept and production and would like to thank Neil Morrissey for his voiceover work and Space City who produced the advert from start to finish.

You can hear the ad airing on commercial radio stations within the Global and Bauer Media groups throughout 2020. The campaign was planned by Rocket and Mark Helm Media.

Listen to the ad by clicking here.

Exeter is the UK’s greenest motoring hotspot, with the fastest growth in ULEV ownership since 2018, up more than 150%, according to DVLA registration data analysed by Motorway.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) submission was made by Motorway.co.uk to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in December 2019, requesting the most up-to-date figures on Ultra Low Emissions Vehicles (ULEVs) registered in the UK. ULEV figures include all-electric vehicles, electric range-extender vehicles and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs).

The latest figures*, broken down by region and local authority, reveals the total number of ULEVs registered in the Exeter local authority, as of Q3 2019, was 1,194. This compares to just 464 in Q3 2018; that’s an increase of 157%. Next on the list is Warwick, where the take-up of ULEVs has more than doubled (128%) over the same period.

ULEV is the term used to describe any vehicle that uses low carbon technologies, emits less than 75g of CO2/km from the tailpipe and is capable of operating in zero tailpipe emission zone for a range of at least 10 miles (SMMT). ULEVs range from pure electric vehicles and fuel cell electric vehicles, to plug-in hybrids and extended range electric vehicles.

According to FOI data, seven of the top ten local authorities for ULEV registrations since 2018, are London boroughs, with Newham and Waltham Forest seeing annual growth of 114% and 82% respectively. At the bottom of the green motoring table are Sunderland and Wychavon, a district in Worcestershire, where ULEV numbers have grown less than 7% over the past 12 months.

The following table shows the ten local authorities that have seen the fastest growth in ULEV registrations, 2019 vs 2018.

Local Authority	Number of ULEVs registered (Q3-2018)	Number of ULEVs registered (Q3-2019)	% Increase in ULEVs
Exeter	464	1,194	157.3%
Warwick	414	943	127.8%
Newham	307	657	114.0%
Waltham Forest	330	602	82.4%
Redbridge	525	948	80.6%
Islington	570	1,026	80.0%
Tower Hamlets	559	1,003	79.4%
South Northamptonshire	320	571	78.4%
Barking & Dagenham	255	449	76.1%
Enfield	549	958	74.5%

The following table shows the ten local authorities – excluding London boroughs – that have seen the fastest growth in ULEV registrations, 2019 vs 2018.

Local Authority	Number of ULEVs registered (Q3-2018)	Number of ULEVs registered (Q3-2019)	% Increase in ULEVs
Exeter	464	1,194	157.3%
Warwick	414	943	127.8%
South Northamptonshire	320	571	78.4%
Weymouth	58	96	65.5%
Broxbourne	133	220	65.4%
Bury	262	420	60.3%
Mendip	227	357	57.3%
Mid Sussex	424	665	56.8%
Stevenage	95	148	55.8%
Solihull	1,481	2,296	55.0%

The following table shows the ten local authorities that have seen the slowest growth in ULEV registrations, 2019 vs 2018.

Local Authority	Number of ULEVs registered (Q3-2018)	Number of ULEVs registered (Q3-2019)	% Increase in ULEVs
Sunderland	340	362	6.5%
Wychavon	444	474	6.8%
Milton Keynes	6,445	6,896	7.0%
Copeland	78	84	7.7%
Barrow-in-Furness	52	56	7.7%
North Warwickshire	165	180	9.1%
Huntingdonshire	782	856	9.5%
Neath Port Talbot	90	99	10.0%
Stratford-on-Avon	371	414	11.6%
Stoke-on-Trent	317	357	12.6%

Regions

Renfrewshire is the most prolific region for ULEV registrations with green motor ownership rising by  almost three quarters since 2018, up 71.1% between Q3 2018 and Q3 2019. This compares with growth of just 5.8% in the Gloucestershire region over the same period.

The following table shows the top regions (excluding London) for ULEV ownership, 2019 vs 2018.

Region	Number of ULEVs registered (Q3-2018)	Number of ULEVs registered (Q4-2019)	% Increase in ULEVs
Renfrewshire	1,857	3,178	71.1%
Devon	1,834	3,053	66.5%
Essex	2,554	3,743	46.6%
South Yorkshire	2,623	3,828	45.9%
Warwickshire	1,700	2,476	45.6%

Alex Buttle, director and spokesperson at Motorway comments:

“These figures show a huge disparity between areas that are embracing greener motoring and areas where take-up of ULEVs is in the slow lane. They highlight the need to focus not just at a national level, but also to confront issues at a regional level in areas where ULEV take-up is lagging behind. The government is now under tremendous pressure to encourage motorists to move to electric cars and other forms of ultra-low emissions vehicles in time for the 2040 switchover. 

“According to recent SMMT figures, 10% of UK new car sales are now in the alternative fuel categories (including electric and hybrid variants combined), however, pure electric registrations still only make up around 2% of the total number of new car sales. 

“While they are cheap to run and most owners are keen to drive less-polluting cars, too many people who rely on their vehicles for work and leisure, are holding off making the switch while there are question marks around the charging infrastructure and the initial outlay of moving to an EV.

“Now that we’re leaving the EU on 31st January, the government can finally turn its attention back to domestic matters, and hopefully that includes ensuring momentum is not lost on our “Road to Zero” emissions. 

“With consumer confidence low and with the domestic auto industry suffering, is now the time for the government to introduce EV purchase subsidies to help consumers make the leap to electric? The ball is firmly in its court.”

Due to the coronavirus situation and restrictions placed on movement and non-essential travel, it is now no longer possible for our car buying partners to provide offers or complete purchases.

For this reason we have paused all active sale processes for the time being. We know this is a really frustrating situation for all involved, but the decision is out of our hands.

We expect this to be a temporary measure and are monitoring the situation constantly.

We have now stopped taking any new sale enquiries, but if you would like to be notified when we are able to provide offers again, you can still sign up and we will let you know when we have offers available.

The Motorway team is still working, and we’re here to support you if you have any questions at all.

We’d like to thank our customers, staff, clients and partners for their patience during this challenging time and hope you stay safe and healthy.

FAQs

What are the current restrictions?

If you are looking to sell your car during the lockdown period, we have put together this guide that explains what you can and can’t do whilst the restrictions on movement and travel remain imposed.

How can I get in touch with you?

Please get in touch with us using the usual channels. See our contact us page for the right email address or number to use.

What happens if I am already selling a car with Motorway?

If you have used Motorway in recent weeks or months, you may have existing offers from buyers. While these offers would normally be valid for seven days, buyers will not be able to honour the offer amount or complete the purchase.

You should contact the buyer directly to understand what the situation is for your specific sale.

When will I be able to sell my car again?

We don’t know. It depends on how long the government needs to restrict transport and movement to deal with coronavirus. We think the current restrictions may last until May and beyond, but we are constantly monitoring the situation. To be notified when we can help you sell your car, you can sign up on Motorway.

What has happened to car prices?

Online valuations for vehicles from car buying firms have fallen significantly as the coronavirus situation has developed. This makes understanding the market value of cars very difficult at this moment in time.

We expect prices to stabilise once the market is able to trade again. We also expect there to be a lot of pent-up demand on both the selling and buying side once the restrictions are relaxed.

I need to sell my car urgently. Is there anything I can do?

Unfortunately all car buying companies we know of have paused purchasing vehicles, and other parts of the car industry such as car auctions and car dealerships have also paused trading.

Our advice is to follow government instructions, stay at home, and wait until businesses are able to buy cars again. 

• More than half (56%) of all enquires on car buying website Motorway.co.uk in April were drivers looking to sell a diesel car (even though only 47.7% of cars on the road are diesels)
• New survey results reveal 18.9% of diesel car owners are looking to sell soon vs 16.1% of petrol car owners
• A predicted 15% drop in the value of a second-hand diesel by the end of 2017 could wipe more than £17bn off the net worth of diesel car owners

Continue reading “War on ‘dirty diesels’ sees surge in UK diesel owners selling their cars online”

• Motorway is a used car marketplace, connecting consumer sellers to professional car buyers through its price comparison website
• Launched in July 2017 – the platform has delivered over £130m in completed car sales and grown to a team of 40
• Today it’s announcing £11m in Series A funding from Marchmont Ventures and LocalGlobe

Motorway has announced today that it has secured £11 million in Series A funding to further expand its next-generation used car marketplace.

The funding round was led by Marchmont Ventures, which is managed by Hugo Burge and Alan Martin (the former CEO and CFO of Momondo Group), along with participation from existing backer LocalGlobe.

Launched in 2017, Motorway’s website enables consumer car sellers to instantly see live offers from multiple car buying services and specialist dealerships. They can compare headline offers, read buyer reviews, fees and collection options to find their best deal. By comparing offers, consumers can get up to £1,000 more than going direct to one buyer.

As a two-sided marketplace, Motorway’s buyer platform provides a fast, efficient way for car buying firms to buy the best used car stock, direct from consumers – cutting out middlemen, and helping everyone get a better deal.

A year ago, Motorway raised £2.75m in Seed funding from Marchmont Ventures and LocalGlobe. It has since grown rapidly – the platform now has over 100,000 monthly customer sales enquiries, and has achieved over £130m worth of completed car sales through its buyers in just 18 months.

This new investment will facilitate further development of its team (currently 40), software platform, expansion of its network of car buyers and marketing of the service throughout the UK.

Motorway was founded by Tom Leathes, Alex Buttle and Harry Jones, an entrepreneurial team with three successful internet startups behind them. As part of the round, Hugo Burge is appointed to the role of non-executive Chairman.

Tom Leathes, CEO & Co-Founder of Motorway said:

“We started Motorway with the vision to bring speed, choice and transparency to the process of selling a car – an experience that’s gone mostly unchanged for decades.  

This is a complex industry that frequently delivers a bad experience for sellers and buyers alike. We simplify the process – bringing instant price comparison into the hands of sellers, and powerful technology tools for car buying firms. That’s helped us grow rapidly in a short space of time, but we’ve really only just got started.

With this new funding, we will now be doubling down on building the best possible car sales platform for consumers, and enabling car buyers to improve their stock acquisition processes at scale. We’re thrilled to have the continued support of Marchmont Ventures and LocalGlobe in this round, and it’s amazing to have Hugo’s deeper involvement in the role of Chairman going forward.”

Director of Marchmont Ventures, Hugo Burge says:

“It’s an honour to be part of this exciting journey. I’m delighted to be taking on the role of Chairman to work more closely with the team at Motorway. They are bringing energy, transparency and exceptional technology into a complex and inefficient market, and the momentum is already quite breath-taking.

“However, a far bigger opportunity lies ahead – to build the true consumer champion in an industry going through unprecedented change. Motorway is setting new levels of customer experience and transparency in the UK used car market and I am confident that the team can capitalise on this opportunity.”

Notes to Editors:

For further information contact:

For more information please contact:

Jonny Stevens, Rhizome PR on 07977 119 579

Tom Leathes, CEO at Motorway, Email: press@motorway.co.uk

About Motorway

Motorway (motorway.co.uk) is a next-generation used car marketplace, connecting consumer sellers to professional car buyers through its price comparison website and apps for car dealers. Motorway was founded by Tom Leathes, Alex Buttle and Harry Jones in 2017 and has grown to a team of 40 based in London and Brighton.

About LocalGlobe

LocalGlobe (localglobe.vc) are a Kings Cross based venture capital firm that focuses on seed and impact investments. Over the last 16 years, LocalGlobe has invested in early stage technology companies including the likes of Zoopla, LoveFilm, Improbable, TransferWise, Citymapper, Graze and Moo.

About Marchmont Ventures

Marchmont Ventures (marchmontventures.com) is focused on investing in scale-up opportunities. Its purpose is to build sustainable creativity. In all their projects the team are willing to take a long-term view to build value and work closely with founders to share their experience and passion for developing high-growth, disruptive enterprises.

Car MOT failure rates have fallen (rather than risen) since new tougher, more stringent MOT rules came into force on 20th May 2018 to curb dangerous cars being driven on UK roads.

This unexpected finding was revealed on analysis of DVLA data obtained by Motorway, through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

The request, submitted to the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in October 2018, asked for the total number of MOT tests, fail and pass rates, every month since January 2017.

The data was obtained to see if more stringent rules had increased MOT test failure rates, but the data revealed the opposite.

The data showed that across June, July and August 2018 – the months following the shake-up in MOT rules – the average failure rate was 34.1%, compared to 34.5% between January 2017 and April 2018 – preceding the changes.

The average fail rate across June, July and August 2017 was 35%, almost 1% higher than the corresponding months this year.

August 2018 saw the second lowest monthly fail rate this year and the fourth lowest since the start of 2017, with just 33.4% of cars failing their MOT. With all cars on the road requiring MOT after three years, this lower monthly fail rate could be put down to a higher % of newer cars being on the road that were purchased 2014-15 who required an MOT for the first time (reaching three years of age).

However, this drop off in MOT failure rates could also suggest that garages operating on tight profit margins for MOTs may not be adhering to the new rules on every car. If they are having to spend more time on all vehicles, they may be under pressure to hit targets and could be rushing through tests or just ticking boxes and not performing them at all.

The DVLA figures also revealed that the failure rate from 1st to 19th May 2018 was 35%, but increased to 35.5% from 20th to 31st May 2018, suggesting that more car owners were caught out by the new rules.

Although, looking at actual test numbers, there were 1,679,965 MOT tests from 1st to 19th May and 986,178 tests over the rest of the month, which indicates that car owners were keen to get their cars tested before the new rules came into force on the 20th May.

The new MOT rules include changes to how defects are categorised, stricter rules around diesel car emissions and additional items checked during the MOT such as whether tyres are under-inflated or any signs of brake fluid contamination or leakage.

Alex Buttle, director, car buying comparison website Motorway.co.uk comments:

“It’s surprising to see MOT fail rates drop since the more comprehensive tests came into force, when logically you’d expect them to rise.

“Other than 2014 and 2015 being very strong years for new car sales and these new cars needing an MOT for the first time, there’s no clear evidence to explain why rates have fallen in 2018 and it might just be a coincidence. However, it could also reveal a lot about the time most garages allocate for tests and the tight profit margins they are are operating under.

“The tests are now more stringent and time consuming – especially for diesels, yet there has been no tangible increase in MOT prices across the UK since May 2018.

“The maximum fee garages can legally charge for an MOT test is £54.85 and many charge less than that to attract customers. A longer list of things to check on each car equals longer tests and that could be putting pressure on the bottom line.

“It’s very hard to pin the reasons for the MOT failure rate fall on any particular thing, but if a garage spends more time on some cars, they may need to make up the time by ‘waving through’ other cars with issues that under the previous rules might have failed. Time is money and tougher tests mean less time for everything on the longer list. There were always going to be knock on effects.”

More than one million cars registered to drive on UK roads have failed MOT tests this year because of defects considered so dangerous under new, more stringent MOT rules, that they pose an ‘immediate risk to road safety and/ or serious impact on the environment’.

This worrying finding was revealed on analysis of DVSA data on MOT tests obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request made by Motorway in November 2018.

The data reveals that since 20th May 2018 when new MOT rules came into force, 1,131,376 cars have failed their MOTs because of dangerous defects. In October, almost 9% of cars failed their MOT because of a dangerous defect. On average since May, MOT testers failed almost a third (32%) of cars because of a dangerous fault.

Under new MOT rules, defects are categorised as either: dangerous, major or minor, and a vehicle will fail if it has a dangerous or major fault. With the old MOT your vehicle either passed, passed with advisory faults or failed.

According to the DVSA website, a dangerous defect ‘has a direct and immediate risk to road safety or has a serious impact on the environment, and the vehicle cannot be driven again until the defect has been repaired.’

There are many things that can be considered ‘dangerous defects’. Here is a few examples:

• Leaking hydraulic fluid – leaks from a brake value such that brake functionality is affected
• Brake problems – brake disc or drum missing and/ or the brake lining or pad is missing or incorrectly mounted
• Dangerous wheels – a wheel with more than one loose or missing wheel nut, bolt or stud or the wheel is distorted or worn to the extent it is likely to become detached

A vehicle will be recorded as “no longer road legal” if it fails due to a dangerous fault. If you do drive the car, you could be fined £2,500, be banned from driving and incur three points on your licence.

If a car fails because of a major defect, the repair needs to be made as soon as possible. However, the car may be driven if it is still roadworthy and the MOT is valid.

Alex Buttle, director of car buying comparison website Motorway.co.uk comments:

“Looking at this data from the DVSA, we were really surprised by the high number of cars registered to drive on UK roads that are considered ‘dangerous’. And these are just the vehicles that have been tested since the new rules came into play in May 2018.

“New car sales are currently falling at a dramatic rate, but the number of licensed cars on the road is remaining comparatively stable at around 38 million. This suggests owners are hanging onto cars for longer – and because of that, the UK’s used car stock will get older year on year unless that trend is reversed. That means more dangerous cars, requiring frequent safety checks.

“We could be heading towards becoming a ‘country of clunkers’. Only an uptick in sales of new cars will cause a higher % of older cars to start exiting our roads. Until then, highways will likely become even more full of older, more dangerous vehicles which should be getting fixed by a mechanic or headed for the scrap heap.”