£2,995
Average monthly spend per retailer
Auto Trader's own full-year figure for the twelve months to 31 March 2026. It buys the advert slot, not the content that goes in it.
For UK forecourts · Reels · WhatsApp · Advert
Car video for UK forecourts,
Car video for UK forecourts,
made from your advert photos
Send us the photographs that are already on the advert and we build them into a short vehicle video, ready within 24 hours. You get a vertical cut for Instagram, TikTok and WhatsApp, where your own channels live, and a landscape cut you can use on your website or upload to YouTube for the advert. Nothing needs filming and nobody has to come to the forecourt.
~24 hrs
Turnaround
2
Cuts per car
0
Cost of the first
your_forecourt
Reel · today
Ready in ~24 hours///
Two cuts per car///
Licence-clean music///
One free sample///
No contract///
No subscription///
The British picture
Advertising is not cheap here,
Advertising is not cheap here,
and it is the same advert as everyone else's.
Auto Trader reported an average revenue per retailer of £2,995 a month for the year ended 31 March 2026, up 5% on the £2,854 it reported the year before, across an average of 13,942 retailer forecourts advertising on the platform. Those forecourts sit inside a wider trade that IBISWorld counted at 15,517 used-car and light-vehicle sales businesses in 2026, a fall of 0.7% on the year. The two numbers measure different things and we would rather say so than blur them: one counts registered businesses, the other counts forecourts actually paying to advertise on the market leader.
What follows from that is simple enough. Whilst you are paying a meaningful monthly figure for the advert itself, the advert looks structurally identical to every other advert on the same search page, because the platform decides the layout and you only supply the stock. The part of the shop window you genuinely control is your own Instagram, TikTok and WhatsApp, and that is where a vertical video earns its keep, because nobody else can flatten it into a row.
13,942
Forecourts advertising, on average
Also from the same full-year results, down 0.5% on the previous year. Your advert competes with all of them on the same page.
451,000
Live adverts, on average
Split as roughly 428,000 used and 23,000 new. That is the size of the row your car has to climb out of.
The portals, named
Every British portal takes video differently.
Every British portal takes video differently.
Here is what each one actually accepts.
Most video suppliers hand you one file and leave the rest to you. That does not survive contact with the British market, because the rules differ by portal and one of them is stricter than the law. So we cut two versions of every car, and we tell you plainly which one belongs where and where we cannot yet promise anything.
Portal 01
Landscape cut
Auto Trader
A retailer adds a video by pasting a YouTube link into the Stock and Adverts view of Dealer Portal, and it then appears on the full page advert beside the gallery. Auto Trader accepts video hosted on YouTube, or delivered through the API of CitNOW or AutosOnShow if you already subscribe to one of them. YouTube Shorts are not supported, which is the detail that decides everything: a 9:16 file cannot serve this slot, so the landscape cut is the one you upload here.
One honest caveat. Auto Trader's Vehicle Video terms require the video to be a continuous recording of the vehicle, and we have not had confirmation from Auto Trader that a video built from photographs satisfies that wording. Until we do, we will not promise you an Auto Trader advert video. Ask them, or ask us to ask, before you plan around it.
Portal 02
Not confirmed
Cazoo, formerly Motors.co.uk
If a supplier is still writing Motors.co.uk on its website, it has not looked at this market since May. The advertising business rebranded to Cazoo on 27 May 2026, the dealer site now redirects to dealer.cazoo.co.uk, and the legacy Motors site is due to close by the end of 2026. The network spans Cazoo, MOTORS, eBay, Gumtree and Parkers, and the consumer site carries stock from more than 5,000 UK dealers.
There is no published self-serve video specification for dealers on the Cazoo side, and the only concrete link on record is that Motors.co.uk previously added CitNOW video technology. We treat that as unconfirmed, so we would send you the landscape cut and ask you to check the current route with the Cazoo dealer team first.
Portal 03
Partly documented
CarGurus UK
CarGurus launched here in December 2016 and now exposes a consumer filter for cars that offer a video walkaround from the selling retailer, which tells you dealer video does reach the listing in some form. What is not published is a UK dealer help article setting out the upload path, the accepted format or the length. Its reported dealer numbers are no longer UK-only either, since segment reporting was collapsed and the published figure of 8,478 paying dealers in the second quarter of 2026 covers the UK and Canada together.
So we say the same thing here as above. The landscape cut is the one that fits a listing slot, and the route needs confirming with CarGurus before anyone builds a process around it.
Portal 04
60 seconds max
eBay Motors and Gumtree
eBay publishes real numbers for once: one video per listing, up to sixty seconds, MP4 or MOV, any aspect ratio accepted with 16:9 recommended, uploaded from the eBay Motors app, and reusable in ads afterwards. Our standard cut sits comfortably inside that ceiling, so nothing needs trimming.
The caveat is narrow but worth stating. Those specifications are eBay's general motors video feature, and we have not seen them separately confirmed for eBay Motors Pro trade classified adverts, which now sit inside the same network as Cazoo and Gumtree.
The one slot nobody else controls is your own. Instagram, TikTok and the WhatsApp thread you use to answer an enquiry all want the vertical cut, and none of them care whose portal the car is advertised on. That is the cut we build first and the one we would judge the whole thing on.
British stock
The cars actually on your forecourt.
These are the five most transacted used cars in Britain in the second quarter of 2026, on SMMT figures reported by Carwow. They are also the cars we have to make look interesting, which is a different job from making a supercar look interesting, and the shot list changes accordingly.
73,570 sold
Supermini
Ford Fiesta
The most transacted used car in the country and, on Auto Trader's research, the most owned first car for two generations running. The buyer is often young and nervous, so the cut leads with the interior and the clean bodywork rather than a dramatic exterior sweep.
59,247 sold
Supermini
Vauxhall Corsa
A car with no real equivalent in an American or German listing, and one that lives or dies on condition rather than specification. Kerb shots, alloys and a straight panel line do more work here than any badge close-up.
55,786 sold
Hatchback
Volkswagen Golf
The buyer compares trim levels obsessively, so the cut holds longer on the dashboard, the seats and whatever the specification actually is. A full service history in the advert is worth a beat of its own.
52,283 sold
Hatchback
Ford Focus
Family stock, sold on space and running costs rather than on looks. The boot, the rear seats and the windscreen line get the time, and the cut stays calm rather than trying to be a trailer for something it is not.
38,333 sold
Family SUV
Nissan Qashqai
Built in Sunderland and the mainstream British family SUV, with the Mini Cooper on 38,694 and the BMW 3 Series on 38,104 sitting either side of it in the same top ten. Height, boot access and the driving position are what the buyer is really asking about.
Approved used, part-exchange, prep
The same works for an approved used car, for a part-exchange you have just taken in, and for a car still in prep that you want on the feed before it is photographed properly. Send what you have and we will tell you honestly whether the photographs carry a video yet.
Send one car
How it works
Three steps, no meeting and no brief.
A car photographed for the advert in the morning can be a finished video on both formats by the next day, without anybody visiting the forecourt and without a seat in an editing suite.
Step 01
Send the advert photos
Paste the link to your advert or upload the images directly, roughly five of the outside and five of the interior. There is nothing else to fill in, because the photographs carry what the cut needs.
Step 02
We build both cuts
The pacing, the captions and a licence-clean music bed are chosen for that specific car, and your logo goes on. Within 24 hours you have the vertical version and the landscape version in the dashboard, and you can re-roll any three-second segment yourself.
Step 03
Post it and send it
The vertical file goes to Instagram, TikTok and the WhatsApp reply. The landscape file goes on your own site, or to YouTube if you are pursuing the advert slot. One car, two places to be seen, one upload each.
Where the liability sits
The advertiser is you.
The advertiser is you.
So the car on screen is your car.
There are no AI-specific rules in British advertising law. The CAP Code applies to a generated video exactly as it applies to anything else, and misleading imagery breaches it however it was produced.
We animate your photographs, we do not invent a car
The video is built from the images you send, of the actual vehicle you are selling. We do not smooth away a dent, we do not change a colour, and we do not replace a tyre that has seen better days. If a photograph shows a problem, the video shows it too.
Material facts stay in the advert
The ASA treats things such as previous ex-fleet or ex-business use as information that must not be omitted, and since 6 April 2025 the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 has given the CMA direct powers to fine serious consumer-law breaches at up to 10% of global turnover. A video is not the place to quietly drop a detail your advert carries.
The music is licence-clean and the overlays are plain
Auto Trader's Vehicle Video terms exclude third-party copyright material and allow no external advertising or links other than your own website, so a cleared track is a requirement rather than a nicety. We also keep finance figures out of the standard template, because a video showing monthly payments pulls you into financial-promotion territory, and that wording should be yours to sign off.
Pricing
Pay per car, not per month.
We invoice in US dollars, and we would rather say that in the open than quote you a pound figure we have not set. There is no contract and no retainer, your first video is free, and after that you pay for the cars you actually put on video. Both cuts are included in every price below.
Plate change is the obvious moment to batch. The 76 plate runs from 1 September 2026 to 28 February 2027, and a pack ordered before it lands means the new stock arrives with video already waiting.
Single video
Try it
$59
/ car
One car, both cuts, the straightforward way to test it on a single advert before you commit any further.
- + Vertical and landscape included
- + Ready within 24 hours
- + Re-roll any 3-second segment
10-pack
Plate change
$399
/ 10 cars
Ten cars in one bundle and cheaper per car than buying them singly. This is the one that fits a forecourt turning a handful of fresh units every week.
- + Lower price per car
- + Credits never expire
- + Re-roll on every video
25-pack
Monthly
$899
one-time
Roughly ten cars a month for a flat fee, which suits a forecourt that wants every new arrival on video without thinking about credits.
- + About 10 cars a month
- + No subscription, no contract
- + Priority processing
VAT and invoicing
This service is sold to VAT-registered businesses. For a supplier outside the UK selling services to a UK business customer, the place of supply is your country, so no foreign VAT is charged and you account for the VAT yourself under the reverse charge, with the invoice carrying a reverse-charge note. In practice that means the headline figure is the figure: nothing is added on top and there is nothing extra for you to recover. If you are not VAT registered, tell us before you order, because the reverse charge does not apply and we will want to sort that out properly rather than guess.
FAQ
Questions British
Questions British
retailers actually ask.
If yours is not here, email us at hello@aicarvideo.com and we will come back to you the same day.
Can I put the video on my Auto Trader advert?
The mechanism exists and it runs through YouTube: you paste a YouTube link into the Stock and Adverts view of Dealer Portal, and the video appears on the full page advert beside the gallery. Two things constrain it. YouTube Shorts are not supported, so the file has to be the landscape cut rather than the vertical one, and Auto Trader's Vehicle Video terms require a continuous recording of the vehicle. We have not had confirmation that a video built from photographs meets that wording, so we will not promise you this slot until Auto Trader says yes in writing.
Which cut goes where?
The vertical 9:16 cut is for Instagram, TikTok and the WhatsApp reply, and it is the one we consider the main deliverable because those channels are entirely yours. The landscape cut is for your own website, and for a portal slot where landscape is what the platform wants, including eBay, which recommends 16:9 and caps a listing video at sixty seconds. You receive both from a single order, so you are never re-cropping a file at ten at night.
How do I pay, and what happens with VAT?
Invoicing is in US dollars, and we are saying so plainly rather than publishing a pound price we have not set. Because this is a business-to-business supply of services from outside the UK, no foreign VAT is charged and your business accounts for the VAT under the reverse charge, with a reverse-charge note on the invoice. The service is intended for VAT-registered businesses, so if you are not registered, say so before ordering and we will handle it properly.
How quickly can you turn a batch around at plate change?
A single car is ready within about 24 hours, and a pack is worked through in the order it arrives. September is the second selling peak of the year, with the 76 plate running from 1 September 2026 to 28 February 2027, so the sensible approach is to send the pack before the stock lands rather than during the week it does. Tell us the date you want them live and we will work back from it.
Is a generated video allowed under British advertising rules?
There are no AI-specific rules in British advertising law, and the CAP Code applies to generated content exactly as it does to anything else, so misleading imagery is a breach however it was made. The liability sits with you as the advertiser, which is precisely why we work only from your own photographs of the actual car and never retouch away damage, mileage or provenance. Anything material that belongs in the advert belongs in the video too.
Is the music cleared, and can you add my logo?
Every video uses a licence-clean track, which matters because Auto Trader's Vehicle Video terms exclude third-party copyright material and allow non-compliant content to be removed without credit. Your logo goes on both cuts, and any spoken or written text stays in English, which those same terms also require. What we keep out by default is finance figures, since a video quoting monthly payments takes you into financial-promotion territory and that wording should be yours to approve rather than ours to guess.
Keep reading
Go deeper on the video itself.
Format
Walkaround videos
What the standard vehicle walkaround covers, and which shots earn their seconds.
Read it PricingWhat a dealer video costs
The breakdown across freelancers, agencies and a flat per-video price.
Read it ComparisonAI video vs a videographer
Where a person with a camera still wins, and where the software is simply faster.
Read it ServiceAutomotive video production
What done-for-you vehicle video looks like when software does the editing.
Read itLooking for the general overview instead? Start on the AI Car Video home page.
No risk
One car off the forecourt,
One car off the forecourt,
one free video, nothing owed.
Pick a car that is already advertised, send us the link or the photographs, and both cuts come back within 24 hours. If they are useful, we talk about the next ten. If they are not, you have spent nothing and you keep the video anyway.
~24 hrs
Ready
2
Cuts
1×
Car
The vertical cut is the point,
and the advert cut comes free with it.
Auto Trader's own research, published in February 2025, found that around one in ten drivers aged 17 to 25, or 11%, use TikTok to help them find their first car. The same work put the average spend on a first car at £4,143 against £826 for the mid-nineties generation, and named the Ford Fiesta as the most owned first car in both. Those buyers are not comparing rows in a search result. They are scrolling, and a still photograph does not stop them.
Instagram and TikTok
The vertical cut is delivered at 9:16 with captions burnt in, so it goes straight up without cropping or re-editing. If you post two or three fresh arrivals a week, that is a content calendar you no longer have to think about, built from the same photographs your advert already uses.
WhatsApp, one to one
When an enquiry comes in about the silver Qashqai, you can send the video back rather than the same four photographs the buyer has already seen. It answers the colour, the boot, the alloys and the state of the interior in one go, which shortens the thread and gets you to a viewing sooner.
Your own website
Both cuts are yours to embed on your own site, on the vehicle page or the home page, with no platform sitting in between. There is no licence to renew and no portal deciding where the file may appear.
One more thing worth knowing, because it comes up. TikTok has been formalising the automotive route with its Automotive Ads for Inventory product, which was in closed alpha as of April 2026 with a wider rollout expected later in the year. That is a feed product aimed at groups with an inventory feed. If that is you, a feed vendor will serve you better than we will, and we would rather say so now than sell you the wrong thing.