Car Dealer Live takes place in just two weeks’ time and the agenda for the day is packed with great sessions that’ll inspire attendees.

At a time the industry is facing real change – from new Chinese brands to the march towards electrification and AI – Car Dealer Live will delve deeply into these topics to give attendees insight into what’s to come.

The event, sponsored by Autotrader, takes place on March 19 at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon. 

Limited tickets are available for dealers and suppliers on the Car Dealer Live event website – but are selling out fast.

• Book your tickets to Car Dealer Live 26

Host and Car Dealer editor-in-chief James Baggott said: ‘This event has an amazing line-up of guests from all walks of the motor trade who will be giving their opinions on a challenging time for the industry.

‘This year has kicked off with vigour, especially in the used car market, but there are many headwinds ahead that will need navigating.

‘At our event on March 19, we’ll be talking about these topics in detail with franchised and independent dealers and eight car manufacturer MDs. They are talented automotive professionals who can all give us a steer on what’s coming next.’

Car Dealer Live partners will be delivering exclusive content at the event including a look at the major challenges facing dealers in 2026, how Chinese brands will change the face of the industry and how the most forward thinking dealers are using AI to help them be more efficient.

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.

Executives from Suzuki, Dacia and Xpeng will take part in our car manufacturer panel, while a dedicated Chinese challenger brand session will feature BYD, Geely, Omoda & Jaecoo and Chery.

The 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.

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

There will also be a Social Media Masterclass featuring dealers who have saved thousands selling cars on social platforms. 

A full agenda for the day is published at the bottom of this story.

Also, this year we’ve 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

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