UK-based Trader Media Group, the publisher of car magazine,\u00a0Auto Trader, says its\u00a0will publish the final edition of its magazine portfolio in June, having\u00a0completed its transition to an online digital business.<\/p>\n
The group points out however, that its subsidiary in South Africa is\u00a0unaffected.<\/p>\n
Trader Media Group’s other titles, Top Marques, Truck and Plant, Van Trader and Farm Trader will all continue online.<\/p>\n
Trader Media’s\u00a0South African business runs and operates independently from the UK business and its plans and strategies are developed based on local market needs, says Angelique Lynch,\u00a0head of marketing at Auto Trader SA.<\/p>\n
“In that context we don’t have plans to cease our print edition in the near-mid future as we still sell around 15,000 copies of Auto Trader per week -which shows there is demand in this market,”\u00a0Lynch said, adding that autotrader.co.za attracts up to 850,000 unique visitors\u00a0each month.<\/p>\n
A number of strong local print titles have closed recently, including Sports Illustrated, and\u00a0health and wellness magazine, Shape, due to\u00a0revenue losses and declining circulation figures.<\/p>\n
Trader Media Group says that its\u00a0move in the UK marks the culmination of \u00a0strategy to migrate all its activities to digital platforms, as motorists and dealers move online to access information and buy and sell vehicles.<\/p>\n
Circulation of the print edition of Auto Trader had declined from a peak of 368,000 in January 2000, to 27,000 in March 2013, whereas there have been positive levels of growth across the digital\u00a0platforms, with mobile up 67%, tablet up 130% and desktop increasing 13% year\u2010on\u2010year,\u00a0Trader Media Group said.<\/p>\n
Autotrader.co.uk receives over 11 million unique visitors each month to its website and over three\u00a0and a half million readers access the mobile site.<\/p>\n
The group said it is further strengthening its multi\u2010channel digital offering with the launch of a new mobile\u00a0service that allows individuals to sell their car directly from a smart phone.<\/p>\n
Zillah Byng Maddick, interim CEO at Trader Media Group, said:\u00a0“With a marked shift by consumers and dealers to\u00a0online platforms as a means of accessing information and buying and selling vehicles, we continue to\u00a0innovate to ensure that we offer them the products and services they require through their channels\u00a0of choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
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