Car Dealer Live takes place next week – but what are the team looking forward to the most at our big event?

Car Dealer Live, sponsored by Autotrader, and hosted by James Baggott, James Batchelor and Rebecca Chaplin takes place on Thursday, March 19.

The hosts, as well as Car Dealer podcast host, Jon Reay, chat about what they’re looking forward to the most in the video above.

Tickets to the event, which takes place at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon, are available from CarDealerLive.co.uk.

The day will be packed with great research sessions, headline interviews and panels, and is set to inspire and educate attendees. 

Car Dealer editor-in-chief said it’s the Chinese challenger panel that he’s most looking forward to.

In the video, above, he said: ‘For me, I’m excited about a lot of things at this year’s Car Dealer Live, but the Chinese challenger brands panel is something I’m particularly looking forward to.

‘We’ve got some brilliant brands there – brands that are really changing the shape of the automotive industry. I think 2026 could well be the year of the Chinese carmaker. 

‘We’ve got BYD, Omoda & Jaecoo, Chery and Geely bosses on that panel. It’ll be really interesting to hear their thoughts on why British buyers have taken to their brands so quickly and what they’ve got planned next.’

• Book your tickets to Car Dealer Live 26

Car Dealer Live partners include Autotrader, Google, Impel, Keyloop, Motorway and Cox Automotive who will all host panel sessions discussing their detailed research carried out for the event.

Three headline interviews will take place on the day with Nicola Dobson, Peugeot UK managing director, Sohib Ghafouri, founder of used car dealership Infinity Motors, and Ginny Buckley, TV presenter and founder of Electrifying.com.

For Car Dealer associate editor James Batchelor, it’s the manufacturer panel he’s looking forward to the most. It features executives from Suzuki, Dacia and Xpeng.

Batchelor said: ‘I think this year in particular we’ve got an excellent range of car manufacturer bosses – a real variety that stretches right across the market.

‘Three very interesting brands, three very driven individuals, and I think it’s going to be a really interesting panel. I’m very much looking forward to that.’

An independent car dealer panel features IMDA chairman and used car dealer Umesh Samani, Steven Douglas, the founder of dealership Really Easy Car Credit, and George Manning, director of car supermarket Hilton Garage. 

And franchised dealers taking part in another panel include Hedin CEO Richard Ennis and Luscombe Motors MD Sam Luscombe. 

For host Rebecca Chaplin, it’s these dealers she’s looking forward to hearing from most – plus those that will appear alongside our partners in their research sessions.

Chaplin said: ‘I’m most looking forward to all the dealers we’re going to have on stage. 

‘But they’re not the only dealers, and we probably don’t shout about this enough. When you’re listening to any of the talks from our partners, they’re also bringing along dealers to talk about the research they’ve done.

‘I always find this the most fascinating part because they really get down into the operational details of what’s going on in their dealerships and what’s actually working, so it’s well worth listening to them.’

• Book your tickets to Car Dealer Live 26

Car Dealer Live will also feature a Social Media Masterclass featuring dealers who have saved thousands selling cars on social platforms. A full agenda for the day is published below.

Jon Reay added: ‘Lots of people are going to be talking about AI. Obviously we’ve got an AI provider sponsoring the event, so James Lees from Impel will be sitting down with you to talk about their AI product. But AI is being used across the board really, isn’t it?

‘Autotrader uses AI – they’re the headline sponsors – and it’ll be interesting to see how they’re pushing that forward over the next 12 months. 

‘And Google, of course, will be talking at the end of the day about how AI is going to affect the way people search for used cars going forward, which I think will be one of the hot topics for the next year or so.’

Also, this year we’ve also added a dedicated Networking area where you can relax over coffee and lunch and chat to some other partners attending the event. 

These include: 

• Autoglym – the car care professionals
• Brego – the used car valuations specialist
• DealerKit – the car dealership DMS built for dealers, by dealers
• Jigsaw Finance – a car finance broker with access to 30 funders 
• UVeye – a 24-camera, AI-powered visual inspection solution
• Rallye Digital – a firm producing dynamic pricing displays for dealers

Tickets to the event are available now and cost £165 for trading car dealers. Supplier tickets are £335.

Hotel room packages are also available with a room the night before the event. A social get together will be held the evening prior to the event for those attending to catch up with colleagues and network with like-minded professionals.

Pricing:

Dealer ticket: £165

Supplier ticket: £335

Streaming ticket: £225

Dealer + Hotel package: £325

Supplier + Hotel package: £495

(prices ex vat)

Book your tickets now by logging on to the CarDealerLive.co.uk website.

Car Dealer Live 26 Agenda

•  08:00 – Arrivals and coffee
•  09:00 –Welcome in auditorium from Car Dealer’s James Baggott
•  09:00 –Headline interview – Nicola Dobson, Peugeot UK
•  09:20 – Franchised dealer panel
•  09:40 – Auto Trader research session
•  10:00 – Impel research session
•  10:20 – Headline interview – Sohib Ghafouri, Infinity Motors
•  10:40 – Coffee break and networking
•  11:00 – Motorway research session
•  11:20 – Social media masterclass
•  11:40 – Car manufacturer panel
•  12:10 – Lunch
•  13:00 – Challenger brands manufacturer panel
•  13:30 – Cox Automotive research session
•  13:50 – Headline Interview – Ginny Buckley, Electrifying.com
•  14:20 – Keyloop research session
•  14:40 – Coffee break and networking
•  15:00 – Independent dealer panel
•  15:20 – Google research session
•  15:40 – Event close