Terms and Conditions

New Car Stock Business Rules

Last Updated: 17 April 2023

New Car Stock is an advertising enhancement which is only available to Advertisers who are Franchise Retailers and allows those Franchise Retailers to advertise New Cars for sale on Auto Trader Platforms (the “New Car Stock Product”). These Business Rules (“Rules”) apply to any use of the New Car Stock Product.

New Car Stock will appear on Auto Trader Platforms in a manner and in locations which shall be determined by Auto Trader at its sole discretion. Where provided, the MRRP may be used in conjunction with the Advertised Price to highlight a saving to the consumer where there is a genuine saving.

New Car Stock is a Product which is provided subject to these Rules and the Main Advertising Terms & Conditions, which are incorporated into these Rules by reference. If there is any conflict between these Rules and the provisions in the Main Advertising Terms & Conditions, these Rules shall have precedence.

Terms defined in the Main Advertising Terms & Conditions shall have the same meaning in these Rules provided that, should a term be defined in both the Main Advertising Terms & Conditions and these Rules, the meaning of the term defined in these Rules shall have precedence in relation to the Rules.

  1. Definitions

    1. "Advertised Price" means the cash price that the New Car is available for from the Franchise Retailer (this should not include discounts or contributions which are not available to any cash buyer), and such price shall be for the specific New Car stock item and including any “OTR” or “On The Road” charges such as tax and delivery charges, but excluding any optional products like paint protection and GAP which may be added at the point of purchase.
    2. “Available From Date” means, where the New Car is Pipeline Stock, the date specified by the Franchise Retailer in the Advert from which the New Car will be available (which cannot be later than 6 months from the date the Advert is created).
    3. "Franchise Retailers" means Advertisers who are motor/vehicle dealers and who hold a retail franchise from a vehicle manufacturer.
    4. “In Stock” means New Car stock which is in the physical possession of the Franchise Retailer, or which the Franchise Retailer is otherwise in control of and is able to bring into its physical possession within no more than 7 days but which is not Pipeline Stock.
    5. "MRRP" means the genuine “manufacturer recommended retailer price” for the applicable New Car stock item which a consumer would reasonably be expected to pay. This price is for the specific New Car stock item including any “OTR” or "On The Road” charges such as tax and delivery charges, but excluding any optional products like paint protection and GAP which may be added at the point of purchase.
    6. "New Car" means an unregistered vehicle which has recorded less than 100 miles, and which may be either In Stock or Pipeline Stock. A pre-registered vehicle is not a New Car for the purposes of these Rules.
    7. “Pipeline Stock” means New Car stock which is in existence and has been built, or which is in the build process but has been specified and ordered but which is not yet within the Franchise Retailer’s control. A vehicle which is still in the production process, or constitutes any ‘build-to-order’ or ‘configurator’ stock (or similar), is not Pipeline Stock and cannot be advertised as a New Car on Auto Trader Platforms.

  2. New Cars

    1. The New Car Stock Product on Auto Trader Platforms is only available to Franchise Retailers.
    2. Franchise Retailers may only advertise New Cars that have been specifically allocated to them by the vehicle manufacturer and which the Franchise Retailer has the legal authority to sell at the point of advertising.
      3. In order to advertise vehicles under the New Car Stock Product, those vehicles must:
      1. not be pre-registered;
      2. be available for purchase, and not have been sold to another buyer;
      3. be either In Stock or Pipeline Stock;
      4. not be a ‘build to order’ or ‘configurator’ vehicle;
      5. be available to all buyers;
      6. have been allocated a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).
    4. All Adverts for New Car stock must clearly state whether that New Car is In Stock or Pipeline Stock. Where the New Car is Pipeline Stock, the Advert must include an Available From Date. Auto Trader will display the Available From Date on the Advert in order to inform Consumers of the month when the New Vehicle will be available. Once the Available From Date is reached, the Advert will be updated to show that the New Car is In Stock.
    5. The Franchise Retailer will ensure that any Available From Date is accurate, and is not misleading and that the New Car will be available on or before the corresponding Available From Date, and shall not advertise any Pipeline Stock as In Stock (or vice versa). In the event that the Available From Date changes due to unforeseen circumstances (for example, supply chain problems), then the Franchise Retailer will amend the Available From Date promptly to ensure that it is accurate.

  3. New Car Adverts

      1. In accordance with the Main Advertising Terms & Conditions, Franchise Retailers must comply with the Advertising Guidelines in respect of New Car Adverts including but not limited to:
      1. not being misleading;
      2. not including financial promotions anywhere in the Advert; and
      3. not advertising non-existent vehicles, or one that has been recently sold.
    2. Franchise Retailers must not include images which are not of the vehicle (including for example images of the Franchise Retailer, or multiple vehicles).
    3. Franchise Retailers will be responsible for adding any additional New Cars via Portal, API or via a stock feed, and for removing New Cars once they are sold, so that advertised New Cars accurately reflect a Franchise Retailer’s available New Car stock.
    4. New Car adverts are independent from a Franchise Retailer’s used car package and therefore all products purchased in connection with a Franchise Retailer’s used car package shall not be applied to the Franchise Retailer’s New Car advertising. New Cars cannot be advertised on a used car contract.
    5. It is the Franchise Retailer’s sole responsibility to ensure that the Advertised Price and the MRRP specified in the Advert is accurate and is applicable to the exact specification of the New Car stock item in question.

  4. Fair Usage

      1. New Car stock advertising is only to be used by Franchise Retailers for fair and legitimate business purposes. Auto Trader shall determine, at its sole discretion but acting reasonably, whether a Franchise Retailer’s usage of New Car stock advertising constitutes use which is not for fair and legitimate business purposes. Usage which shall not be deemed for fair and legitimate business purposes, and which shall constitute a breach of these Rules, includes, but is not limited to:
      1. the manipulation of vehicle stock allocation between a Franchise Retailer’s sites with the primary objective of reducing the fees payable to Auto Trader for this product; and
      2. the advertising of New Car stock volumes in respect of any Franchise Retailer site which constitute 50% or more New Car Stock than the average Franchise Retailer site advertises on Auto Trader Platforms in respect of the applicable vehicle manufacturer brand(s) (unless documentary evidence is provided to Auto Trader proving that such advertising volumes constitute fair and legitimate business purposes, such evidence to be accepted or rejected at Auto Trader’s sole discretion).
      2. Without prejudice to any rights and remedies available to Auto Trader for a breach of these Rules and/or the Main Advertising Terms and Conditions or otherwise, in the event that Auto Trader, acting reasonably, considers that a Franchise Retailer is in breach of clause 5.1:
      1. it shall contact the Franchise Retailer to understand the context of the Franchise Retailer’s usage and to establish whether there is any satisfactory justification for such breach; and
      2. if Auto Trader deems there to be no satisfactory justification for such breach of this paragraph having contacted the Franchise Retailer, Auto Trader reserves the right to remove access to New Car stock advertising for such Franchise Retailer.
    3. Without prejudice to the generality of clause 5.2 above, if Auto Trader deems any Franchise Retailer to be misusing the advertising of New Car stock, such as knowingly providing inaccurate MRRP data, Auto Trader shall remove such Franchise Retailer’s New Car stock and report the Franchise Retailer to the relevant vehicle manufacturer.

  5. Charges

    1. Charges shall be payable in accordance with the Main Advertising Terms and Conditions.

  6. eneral

    1. A Franchise Retailer may cancel the New Car Stock Product on 30 days’ notice in accordance with the Main Advertising Terms and Conditions. After such 30 day period has passed, New Car stock will no longer be advertised on the Auto Trader Platforms but will remain visible to a Franchise Retailer on Portal.
    2. Auto Trader reserves the right to amend, modify or remove any or all of the products or services offered as part of New Car Stock Product at any point with immediate effect. Upon carrying out any amendment, modification or removal which has a significant effect on Franchise Retailers, Auto Trader will notify the Franchise Retailer.
    3. Auto Trader may modify these Rules from time to time on giving at least 15 days’ notice in accordance with our Main Advertising Terms and Conditions.