Netcars Takes Seven-Figure Funding To ‘Challenge’ AutoTrader

AutoTrader is considered one of the most successful publishers to migrate from print classifieds to online, in a space – car advertising – it now virtually owns.

But Netcars tells paidContent it has taken on funding “to challenge the Autotrader brand”.

The funding is a seven-figure sum, is Netcars’ first funding and comes from Airtours founder David Crossland.

“The first round of funding will be used to staff the business, develop the website, recruit dealers and drive consumer awareness,” Netcars tells us.

“We have plans to be on TV within 12 months once we have enough cars listed on the website nationwide to satisfy search demand.”

Deposing AutoTrader won’t be easy. It claims 10 million users and a million mobile users. Manchester-based Netcars uses a pay-per-click model to bill car advertisers. It has 750 dealers signed up – far fewer than AutoTrader.