Over the years, the magazine became synonymous with motors and even a household name, with name drops in iconic TV shows like Only Fools and Horses to 8 out of 10 cats to Jools Holland’s Hootenany. Famous faces from the motor industry appeared in the magazine, including Jenson Button and Vicki-Butler Henderson.
During this time, car buying was changing. People needed to be able to search for, and buy, their car more conveniently. Dealerships started opening later in the evening and at the weekends and shopping online became more and more popular. In 2009, Exchange and Mart decided to focus solely on their website and ceased printing of the magazine.
Online classified sites like Exchange and Mart, allow the customer to visit an ‘online forecourt’ where instead of viewing tens of cars, they can view over 100,000. And the variation of cars doesn’t just stop at price and colour, the oldest car on the site is from 1913, almost as old as Exchange and Mart itself!
It’s undeniable that the automotive industry is one of the most fast-paced, not only in terms of technology in cars, but also in the way that people buy their car. For example, you can now live chat with a sales person or product genius 24/7, watch video reviews and even buy your car online and have it delivered straight to your door.
So what does the future hold?
When it comes to all things political a good idea seems great on paper but, as they say, the devil’s in the detail. So, while we may have just about finalised the UK’s Brexit negotiations by 2068, even with all the talk of Electric Vehicles or EVs, your car is highly likely to still involve a petrol power unit – but a plug-in hybrid version.
Looking forward 100 years we could well see high tech electric vehicles where there’s no need of a driver and everything will be connected so you can truly work, rest and play in your car. But in any large town or city, we put our money on it being the wheels of the bus going round and round.
With the idea of driving a car daily into work being priced out of the pocket of every day folk by city taxes and high parking charges, we reckon you’ll be hopping on the latest “Enviro Bus”. That’s if you’re not working from home in the first place.
But when it comes to predicting our means of transport in 150 years’ time, well, that’s anyone’s guess.
