12:11 pm, July 14, 2026
In today’s market, knowing exactly what a car is worth can make all the difference between a profitable deal and a costly mistake.
Dealers told us they value accurate data, real-time market insight and tools they can trust.
This year’s highly commended firms are Cap HPI and Cazana.
But taking the top spot is a company whose valuation tools have become an essential part of many dealers’ daily operations – Autotrader.
Marc Palmer, head of strategy and insights at Auto Trader, said the award was particularly significant because accurate valuations have become more important than ever.
‘It’s a really important award for us to win,’ he told Car Dealer.
‘We talk quite a lot about the amount of change there is in the industry. We talk about how important it is to use data to understand that and help make smarter decisions.
‘One of those big things is valuations, isn’t it? There’s been a lot of volatility because of all the change that we’ve seen in supply and fuel types and brands.
‘So valuations is core to working your way through that. To be the best at that is brilliant.’
Key to Autotrader’s success, Palmer believes, is years of investment in its valuations technology.
‘The valuations product gets better every time,’ he said. ‘That is a big shout, really, to the investment we’ve made in data science and in AI over 10 years – and actually longer than 10 years.
‘I think that’s a real differentiator.’
Autotrader has been using AI for over 10 years, and long before it became mainstream.
‘We’ve really invested in it for a long time,’ Palmer explained. ‘We’ve paid close attention to having brilliant vehicle taxonomy and great vehicle data, which is the cornerstone, really, the foundation of good AI input.
‘Those really smart people that we’ve got in the business start to train the models and ask the right questions to make sure the technology is fed by good data and the output is among the best that you can access.’
Palmer reserved special praise for the teams behind the technology, saying the award was recognition for people who rarely receive public credit for their work.
‘We’ve got people in the business who join because they like to solve problems – data scientists, data engineers and data analysts,’ he said.
‘They don’t often meet with customers. They’re working hard in the background to solve problems and answer questions which are really thorny and really difficult.
‘They’re the ones that make all this stuff happen.
‘For that work to be recognised in this way by customers, I think is brilliant for them, and it’s certainly something I’ll be taking back into the business and sharing with them.’
- W: autotrader.co.uk
- T: 0345 111 0003
