439 dealers have so far signed up for RAC's new free used-car portal

9:57 am, April 20, 2015

A TOTAL of 439 dealers have signed up as new advertisers on RAC Cars since the used-car portal announced plans to become completely free.

Rupert Keane, chairman of raccars.co.uk, said: ‘This is very much the kind of initial response that we were looking for. We have a target of listing 500,000 cars on the site by the end of the year, so are looking to make a fast start.

‘We believe the number of dealers joining the site and the number of cars being listed will continue to gain momentum through the coming weeks and months and that soon we will have more vehicles than any competitor site.

‘It will be completely free to advertise on raccars.co.uk from April 30 with no strings attached and easy options available to import your stock. Dealers literally have nothing to lose and, potentially, a whole new market to gain.

‘Also, as a commitment to the automotive community, we will be donating £1,000 to motor trades benevolent fund BEN as soon as we hit the 200,000 vehicle mark and a further £1,000 every time we pass the 100,000 milestone to 500,000. So the more dealers who sign up, the more support BEN will get.’

Keane added that interest from across the motor industry in the RAC’s advertise-for-free plan had been ‘staggering’ and that many notable individuals and businesses had been in touch to offer their support for the plan.