Auto Trader and What Car? have extended their multi-year partnership to refine the process of purchasing new vehicles.

Beginning next month, consumers will find a comprehensive selection of 20,000 new vehicles, including those marked as 'available soon', on What Car? via Auto Trader.

This initiative is designed to streamline the customer's journey from initial research to the final acquisition of a new car, Auto Trader said.

The existing 'New Car Deals' configurator on What Car? will be replaced with a new display and search feature, powered by Auto Trader.

This upgrade will grant consumers daily access to a wide array of brand-new vehicles. Upon selecting a vehicle, customers will be redirected to Auto Trader's platform to finalise their purchase.

Since July 2022, Auto Trader has been driving the used car listings on What Car? and its partner site, Autocar. The expansion now encompasses new vehicles, offering What Car?'s readership nearly 20,000 new cars each day, in addition to the existing 37,000 nearly new and 430,000 used cars.

The goal of this integration is to alleviate common obstacles encountered during the car-buying experience.

Auto Trader noted that the latest partnership will prove advantageous for retailers and manufacturers, as they will be able to connect with a highly targeted audience at the onset of their car purchasing process.

Auto Trader's partners are already witnessing significant traffic, with approximately two million monthly visits to its new car section and 6.5 million searches conducted daily.

This collaboration coincides with Auto Trader's most substantial marketing endeavour to date, which is focused on boosting retail demand for new cars.

Over six months, the multi-million-pound budget campaign is projected to reach roughly 96% of the UK populace 35 times through various media channels.

Auto Trader COO Catherine Faiers said: “Combined with our significant new car consumer marketing campaign, bringing together two of the UK’s most influential automotive brands marks a very important step in our commitment to helping our partners meet the challenges of the new car market.

Rachel Prasher, MD of Haymarket Automotive, publisher of What Car? and Autocar, said: “Building on the success of our used car partnership, we are delighted to now be working with Auto Trader on new cars, too.

“The synergy between our brands and audiences is obvious, and by working together we can offer consumers, retailers, and car manufacturers an unrivalled end-to-end car-buying and selling experience.”