Motorway

Motorway operates a two-sided online marketplace for used cars in the United Kingdom. Private sellers enter their vehicle registration to get an instant valuation, then use a guided, AI-assisted profiling tool in the company's app to photograph and document the car. Motorway sets a guide price based on the vehicle's condition, mileage and history, and lists the car in a daily online auction in which verified dealers bid against each other; the highest offer is passed to the seller, who can accept or decline. The winning dealer collects the car from the seller's home and pays on the same day, with payment secured before the vehicle leaves the driveway. Motorway does not sell listed cars directly to consumers and does not run consumer-facing used car listings.

The platform supports ancillary parts of the transaction: settlement of outstanding hire purchase or PCP finance is coordinated with the seller's lender, an in-house payments product called Motorway Pay handles dealer-to-seller transfers, and a support team is available by phone and live chat. The company also offers dedicated bereavement support for families selling a deceased relative's vehicle. Motorway states it has 8,000+ verified dealers in its network, describing this as around two thirds of the UK dealer market, with up to roughly 9,000 cars listed in its auction each week and a car selling every two minutes as of 2026.

Founding story

Motorway was founded in 2017 by Tom Leathes, Harry Jones and Alex Buttle, who had previously worked together on earlier ventures including Top10, a broadband and mobile deal comparison site acquired by uSwitch in 2010. Motorway was the founding team's fifth company together; the co-founders first met in 2002. The company launched in July 2017 as the UK's first platform built exclusively around selling cars, after an angel round of £500,000. It initially operated as a price comparison tool showing consumers how dealers would value their car, then pivoted to the dealer-auction marketplace model the company describes as critical to its evolution.

Business model

Motorway operates a marketplace connecting private vehicle sellers with professional car dealers. Sellers list at no upfront cost and pay a service fee only on a completed sale; dealers gain access to privately owned used stock without intermediaries. The company describes its dealer-facing proposition, Motorway for dealers, as a way to buy privately owned used vehicles entirely online.

Sellers pay a service fee calculated as a proportion of the final sale price, charged only when a sale completes and typically deducted automatically from the payment when the dealer uses Motorway Pay; otherwise it is collected via a secure online payment link. There is no fee if the car does not sell. Reported revenue was £66.4m in 2024 with £78m projected for 2025.

Traction

Over 1 million people have used Motorway to help sell a car, with more than 100,000 Trustpilot reviews. As of 2026 the company reports a car selling every two minutes and up to 9,000+ cars listed weekly. Earlier disclosures include 100,000 cars sold since launch and 8,000 sales a month at the end of 2021, third-quarter 2021 sales of $411m versus $105m a year earlier, £1.7bn ($2.1bn) of used car sales in 2022 and £2.2bn ($2.82bn) in transactions in 2023. Revenue reached £66.4m in 2024 with £78m projected for 2025 and profitability targeted for 2026.

Latest developments

In 2025 Motorway launched a new brand identity, renewed its TNT Sports sponsorship, and announced a partnership with Le Capital to streamline funding for dealers buying on the platform. In January 2026 it reported 2024 revenues of £66.4m, projected £78m for 2025 and reduced operating losses, and said it expected to reach profitability in 2026; it also passed 500,000 cars sold and 100,000 excellent-rated Trustpilot reviews. An AI profiling tool launched in April 2026 and a partnership with bereavement specialists Empathy supports sales of vehicles from deceased estates.