Auto Trader picks out its best car dealers, van and motorcycle dealerships at 2024 awards

High performing automotive retailers gathered at London’s 8 Northumberland Avenue for the 2024 Auto Trader Retailer Awards, which saw the launch of two new categories, New Car Retailer of the Year and Woman of the Year.

Nearly 150 retailers were in attendance, with 30 winning accolades for outstanding customer service, digital innovation, sustainability efforts, and adaptability in a fast-moving market.

The highly coveted Retailer of the Year award was given to nine businesses, representing top performers across the car, van, and bike markets.

In the car category, winners included JMC Used Cars (under 50 cars), Alexanders Prestige (50-100 cars), and Group 1 Automotive (over 100 cars).

Van winners were Agnew Volkswagen Van Centre (under 20 vans), John Clark Motor Group's Clark Commercials business (20-50 vans), and Van National (over 50 vans).

In the bike sector, Bennetts Motorcycles (under 20 bikes), Hastings Motorcycle Centre (20-50 bikes), and Edinburgh Harley-Davidson (over 50 bikes) took top honors.

The Customer Experience Award stood out, determined through one of the largest mystery shopping exercises in the industry. A thorough evaluation of 1,500 top-performing retailers through email, phone, and digital audits narrowed the field to nine winners across cars, vans, and bikes.

Self-nomination categories included the Innovation Award, the People & Culture Award, and the Sustainability Initiative Award, recognising businesses for introducing bold innovations, creating exceptional workplace cultures, and advancing sustainability. The Rising Star Award went to PMB Automotive Enthusiasts for its promising future in the industry.

A highlight this year was the new Woman of the Year Award, created to support the Automotive 30% Club's ‘Moonshot’ initiative.

The award celebrates inspiring women in operational management roles. The inaugural award went to Kate Carter, head of truck sales at eStar Truck and Van, praised for her leadership and inspiring contributions.

Finalists included Verity Cornelius of Bristol Street Motors and Samantha Platt from Acorn Motor Group.

Julia Muir, founder of the Automotive 30% Club, called for more representation of women in operational roles, noting that this year's winners serve as role models for the next generation of women in the automotive industry.

Nathan Coe, CEO of Auto Trader, noted that the awards are based on independent, fact-based assessments.

“The retailer awards are a genuine highlight for us in the calendar as it’s an opportunity to celebrate the very best in automotive retailing. Winning these awards is tough, it’s independent, its data and fact based, and it’s unbiased, so even to be among this year’s shortlist is a huge achievement, particularly in a market that’s not been easy this year.

“The only constant in our industry is change and so it’s a privilege to come together and celebrate the retailers who continuously evolve and adapt and who take every challenge as an invitation to innovate.

“I’m especially proud that this year we’ve introduced the Woman of the Year category, recognising the many exceptional women who are so integral to the success of our industry. We believe all businesses are better for having high levels of diversity which is why we believe it’s so important to recognise women and other groups that are currently underrepresented, so that they might inspire others to join what is a massive and important industry in the UK.”