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As reported in Motor Trader today: RAC Cars is dropping its free to list advertising model for dealers for its online classified. It is joining the the Motors.co.uk network in May to join Parkers, Sunday Times Driving, Motoring.co.uk and Carsite on the motors.co.uk network. Dealers will be able to access both brands’ consumers via a single Motors.co.uk stock feed and pay a monthly tenancy fee. RAC launched its free advertising model with claims that it would become market leader by close of 2015 with 500,000 cars listed, overtaking Auto Trader. There are currently 327,500 cars listed on the website. RAC Motoring Services managing director Robert Diamond said the joining Motors would give RAC Cars a broader customer base. “We wanted to engage with the whole of the UK car buyers and not just RAC customers,” he told Motor Trader. Dealers will sign up to the Motors, co.uk website for the first 90 days free of charge and after that pay a monthly tenancy fee to appear on Motors and other sites. Diamond said the free RAC model had failed to raise enough money “It [The free model] worked in that lots of dealers signed up and out stock volumes increased significantly. What was trickier was it did not raise enough revenues to support pay per click advertising,” he said. Now, together, the two businesses’ combined advertised stock increases to over 400,000 cars from more than 8,000 dealers, with audiences of 4.2m across the Motors.co.uk Network. A new RAC Cars website will be launched in May, with enhanced functionality and an improved user journey. RAC Cars promoted itself as “the motorist’s champion” which had “waived the fees for both private sellers and dealers in response to demands for an alternative to existing used car websites that charge high advertising rates.” Phill Jones, managing director of Motors.co.uk, said: “In RAC Cars, we have a partner that shares our passion for becoming a trusted matchmaker for automotive buyers and sellers. “This is great news for both car dealers and prospective buyers. It will provide dealers with access to a larger audience of in-market car buyers through a single relationship, while consumers will benefit from a greater choice of vehicles and the reassurance of RAC’s compelling consumer products. It also underlines Cox Automotive’s ongoing investment in Motors.co.uk to be the trusted advertising partner to the automotive industry.” As has been mentioned elsewhere, this was pushed out to the Trade as Free. For Life. So what happened? Other than the usual, I suspect, bit of corporate greed, the truth lies within the article: >>Diamond said the free RAC model had failed to raise enough money; “It [The free model] worked in that lots of dealers signed up and our stock volumes increased significantly. What was trickier was it did not raise enough revenues to support pay per click advertising,”<< No sh*t, Sherlock. Give it away for free and then wonder why the cash isn't rolling in. Cracking business model, that. >>"It also underlines Cox Automotive’s ongoing investment in Motors.co.uk to be the trusted advertising partner to the automotive industry.”<< No it doesn't. RAC told us it was free, and soon it won't be. Nothing trustworthy there, is there?