Leading Auto Brands in the UK: Q1 2025 Performance Overview

Introduction

In the dynamic automotive sector of the UK, several brands have emerged as leaders, showcasing impressive digital presence and user engagement. This article delves into the performance of RAC Motoring Services, Tesla Motors, and CarGurus LLC during Q1 2025, based on comprehensive data provided by Sensor Tower. We explore their audience trends, app engagement, and advertising strategies, highlighting Sensor Tower’s unique cross-referencing capabilities across web, app, and advertising data.

RAC Motoring Services

RAC Motoring Services maintains a strong digital footprint with its website, rac.co.uk, and the myRAC app.

• Audience Trends: From Q4 2024 to Q1 2025, rac.co.uk experienced notable fluctuations in visits, with a significant spike in January, reaching over 25M visits. Monthly true audience figures remained fairly stable, hovering above 3.7M throughout the quarter, with web-only visitors consistently outnumbering app-only users.

• App Engagement: The myRAC app saw an increase in monthly active users, starting at 516K in October 2024 and rising to over 561K by March 2025, indicating growing user reliance on mobile platforms.

• Ad Spend & Channels: RAC's monthly advertising spend decreased from over $440K in October to under $74K in March, with Snapchat being a primary channel early on but reducing to zero by January 2025.

Tesla Motors

Tesla Motors, with its website tesla.com and the Tesla app, continues to captivate audiences.

• Audience Trends: Tesla.com saw a peak in December 2024 with over 57M visits. The monthly true audience remained above 900K, with a slight decline in March 2025. Web-only visitors dominated the audience, indicating a preference for desktop interactions.

• App Engagement: The Tesla app maintained a steady monthly active user base, with users slightly decreasing from 304K in December to 288K in March.

• Ad Spend & Channels: Tesla's monthly ad expenditure peaked in December 2024 at over $118K, primarily on YouTube, which delivered significant impressions.

CarGurus LLC

CarGurus LLC, with cargurus.com and the CarGurus: Used & New Cars app, shows robust digital engagement.

• Audience Trends: Cargurus.com experienced a steady increase in visits, with unique visitor numbers peaking in March 2025 at over 925K. Monthly true audience figures saw a notable rise, crossing 1M in March.

• App Engagement: The app's monthly active users showed a slight decline from 290K in December to 224K in March, suggesting a shift in user engagement.

• Ad Spend & Channels: CarGurus increased its monthly ad spend, reaching nearly $199K in March, with Facebook being the dominant platform for impressions.

Conclusion

The Q1 2025 analysis reflects the varying strategies and engagement levels of RAC Motoring Services, Tesla Motors, and CarGurus LLC in the UK auto market. Sensor Tower’s comprehensive data offerings, including Web Insights, App Performance Insights, and Pathmatics, provide unparalleled insights into these brands' performance, highlighting the importance of cross-platform analysis in understanding consumer behavior. These insights empower decision-makers to drive strategic growth effectively.