CarGurus, Inc., a leading global online automotive marketplace (aka us!), today announced that it intends to purchase the motoring website, PistonHeads, from Haymarket Group. The acquisition marks a significant step in our plans for the UK, where we launched in 2015 and are now the fastest growing online automotive marketplace*. As a next step, combining the existing CarGurus audience with that of PistonHeads will help us take significant strides towards our plans to accelerate growth and expand our consumer audience in the UK, bringing our core values of trust and transparency to millions of used car buyers.
WHAT IS PISTONHEADS
PistonHeads was founded in 1999 and acquired by Haymarket in 2007. Its extensive forums are home to a large and highly engaged community of car enthusiasts, while at the same time it is known for its trusted automotive review and advice content. Additionally, PistonHeads features used car classified listings.
WHAT IS CARGURUS
CarGurus was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2006 by TripAdvisor co-founder Langley Steinert. CarGurus is an online automotive marketplace with technology at its core, using proprietary algorithms to rank classifieds so that car buyers can quickly and easily find great deals from top rated dealers. In doing so CarGurus is fulfilling its aim of bringing trust and transparency to the used car market, a formula that has helped CarGurus become the largest automotive shopping website in the U.S. based on monthly unique visitor traffic^, as well as the fastest growing in the UK*. In addition to the United Kingdom and the United States, CarGurus operates online marketplaces in Canada, Italy, Germany and Spain.
INDEPENDENCE
We intend to operate PistonHeads as an independent brand under CarGurus ownership, with its popular forum, community, and editorial content at its heart. In time, we will use technology pioneered by CarGurus to enhance the PistonHeads used car classifieds product, while also improving features and functionality across the site in general.
CarGurus plans to offer its dealership listings services across platforms to improve choice and transparency for UK buyers and drive increased value for dealerships.
The acquisition is expected to close in early 2019.
*Source: Comscore Media Metrix®, Multi-Platform, UK Automotive, Information/Resources, percentage change in average unique monthly visitors from Q3 2017 vs Q3 2018 (Competitive set includes: AutoTrader.co.uk, Motors.co.uk, Gumtree.com-Motors, and PistonHeads.com)
^ Source: Comscore Media Metrix® Multi-Platform, Automotive – Information/Resources, Total Audience, Q3 2018, U.S. (Competitive set includes: CarGurus.com, Autotrader.com, Cars.com, TrueCar.com).
This blog posting includes forward-looking statements. For information regarding forward-looking statements made in this blog posting, please refer to the “Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements” section of the press release here.
In the market for a used car? CarGurus makes it easy to find great deals from top-rated dealers. CarGurus compares price, detailed vehicle data and dealer reviews to give each used car a deal rating from great to overpriced, and sorts the best deals first. Find out more and begin your used car search at CarGurus
The content above is for informational purposes only and should be independently verified. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.
“We intend to operate PistonHeads as an independent brand under CarGurus ownership, with its popular forum, community, and editorial content at its heart.”
I sincerely hope the forums are allowed to continue and hopefully improve technologically, as it’s not been well cared for by Haymarket. We have a lively, knowledgeable community which has been allowed (encouraged?) to wither over the last five or ten years.