Sir John Hegarty – who coined the Audi slogan ‘vorsprung durch technik’ – has agreed a deal with Motoring.co.uk to become creative director for the UK online automotive portal.

The company he co-founded, The Garage Soho, will work with Motoring.co.uk to strengthen its brand further and enhance its offering to car manufacturers and dealers by brokering a greater relationship between the users of the site and the brand. Tom Teichman, of Spark Ventures and other co-founder of The Garage Soho, will also be working with Motoring.co.uk.

Motoring.co.uk has more than 2.3 million registered users and is the UK’s largest independently-owned automotive website.

Terry Hogan, managing director, said: “We've been working with Sir John and his team informally for a few months ahead of our impending funding round.

"We're a consumer-focused business that helps motorists throughout their entire car owning cycle, but felt that our brand wasn't supporting our business success.

"With an outstanding track record we couldn't ask for a better partner to help our brand stand out from the crowd. Sir John is a global branding and advertising icon and his impressive track record will help grow our business into a household name.
 
“The Garage Soho has been consulting on this project, with a view to being involved on an equity basis of which the terms are now formally agreed.

"We're delighted to have their team on board. We intend to surprise a few people with the direction that we are taking. The relationship we have with our cars can be difficult and we aim to fix that. Sir John can help us to communicate this message to our users across the UK.”
 
Sir John (pictured) said: “'This is a great business, in a dynamic sector. Helping the founders build a competitive brand is a challenge we're looking forward to.”
 
Chris Green, co-founder of Motoring.co.uk, says: “We currently enjoy successful working relationships with the majority of the UK’s major car manufacturers and dealers but would like to expand upon these and build up our profile across the industry. This will involve growing our scale to around 20% of UK motorists over the next three years."