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We recently spoke with Nathan Coe, Chief Executive at Auto Trader, about the business’s AI-powered future.
Auto Trader’s launch of Co-Driver, a groundbreaking AI-driven suite of tools, signals a new chapter in the company’s mission to transform how cars are marketed and sold in the UK automotive industry.
Developed by Auto Trader’s in-house team of over 400 data scientists and engineers, this suite of tools builds on Auto Trader’s decade-long investment in machine learning, merging its extensive dataset with cutting-edge AI technology to create digital tools that are not just innovative but highly practical. Retailers are already benefitting from this investment, using the platform’s existing AI and machine learning tools to make more profitable sourcing and stocking decisions.
Co-Driver has been designed with two core objectives: enhancing consumer engagement with car listings and streamlining dealership operations.
Nathan describes Co-Driver as the culmination of ten years of research, development, and data accumulation, aimed at addressing the specific challenges of retailers.
By integrating large language models (LLMs) with Auto Trader’s unparalleled data on vehicles and consumer behaviour, Co-Driver represents a targeted approach to AI – one that focusses on precision and utility.
The first Co-Driver feature, ‘Smart Image Management’, focuses on a task that is critical to creating effective car listings. According to Nathan, the arrangement of images plays a crucial role in building buyer confidence and increasing engagement.
Co-Driver automates this process by analysing historical data on consumer interactions to determine the optimal sequence for displaying car images. The tool even identifies missing images and alerts dealerships to add them, improving listing quality without extra manual effort.
Looking ahead, Co-Driver’s capabilities will expand with the release of a smart description generation feature, ‘AI Generated Descriptions’ scheduled for early 2025. Writing accurate, engaging car descriptions is often time-consuming for dealerships, and this module seeks to lighten that burden.
By synthesising vehicle specifications, consumer interest trends, and unique selling points, Co-Driver will automatically generate rich, compelling descriptions tailored to the preferences of UK car buyers.
Nathan says these descriptions will be more persuasive than generic AI-generated content because they draw on Auto Trader’s proprietary data, as well as insights into historical market performance, allowing dealerships to craft listings that stand out in a competitive market while minimising time and effort.
While Co-Driver’s immediate focus is on image management and smart descriptions, it is part of a broader strategy to embed AI across Auto Trader’s platform.
The third planned feature, ‘Key Selling Points’, currently in development, will distil vehicle highlights into quick, scannable bullet points, catering to buyers who prefer a concise overview of a car’s features.
As well as helping overall performance, these first few features within the multi-year pipeline of AI powered tools, will save dealerships a significant amount of time (shortening the average time taken to list a vehicle from around 28 mins to just a click of a button), enabling them to redirect their time toward high-value activities like customer service and vehicle sourcing.
Nathan positions Co-Driver as a key component of Auto Trader’s broader vision to create a seamless, data-driven ecosystem for car buying and selling with its strength lying in its ability to merge vast amounts of UK-specific automotive data with advanced AI tools.
This combination will allow the company to deliver unique insights and capabilities that competitors cannot replicate, using AI innovation to prioritise accuracy, usability, and alignment with the needs of its core audience.
Nathan insists that transparency and trust are at the heart of Auto Trader’s mission. Current features like pricing flags and vehicle history reports illustrate this ethos, providing consumers with clear, data-backed insights to make confident decisions while giving dealerships freedom.
Co-Driver fits seamlessly into this framework and represents the first wave of innovations designed to simplify the car-buying process while helping dealerships connect more effectively with consumers.
The launch of Co-Driver underscores Auto Trader’s ability to operate as both a cutting-edge technology company and a specialist in the UK automotive market where data-driven insights, consumer engagement, and dealership empowerment converge to create a more efficient, transparent, and user-friendly marketplace.