In 2019, eBay acquired a UK classifieds site called Motors.co.uk from Cox Automotive and merged it with its Gumtree classifieds business. Motors.co.uk continued to be the brand by which consumers knew the site, while dealers came to know it as eBay Motors Group.
In 2021, eBay sold its classifieds unit to Adevinta while gaining a stake in the Adevinta. Later that year, Investment fund O3 Industries and private equity fund Novum Capital acquired Motors.co.uk and Gumtree UK from Adevinta.
On Monday the “eBay Motors Group” announced it was ditching the eBay name:
“Under the direction and investment of new ownership, the dealer facing eBay Motors Group brand and consumer facing Motors.co.uk brand, have come together as a single entity – MOTORS.”
“From today the MOTORS website sheds the .co.uk branding it has carried since launch 15 years ago, and debuts a fresh new identity, with a vibrant green theme. An all-new MOTORS mobile app will follow in early 2024.”
MOTORS is changing its social media accounts for brand consistency – on Twitter (X), it will soon close “eBay Motors Group UK” (@ebaymotorsgroup) and will retain its “Motors” (@motorscouk) account, for example.
MOTORS assured dealers it would continue to offer access to multisite advertising across eBay and Gumtree, with no immediate changes to their advertising packages.
It also teased more news would be forthcoming: “MOTORS will make further announcements over the coming of weeks of major investments to support this new strategy,” it said in the announcement on Motors.co.uk.
