Motor-Talk, the largest and one of the oldest car forums in the German-speaking world, is set to cease operations at the end of 2023. The announcement was made by its current operator, mobile.de GmbH, leaving the remaining employees at risk of losing their jobs.
Motor-Talk was founded in 2001 with the aim of providing forums about different car brands in one place. It has been successful in achieving this goal, accumulating over 65 million posts on a wide range of topics over the years.
From 2012 to 2018, Motor-Talk had a dedicated editorial team that focused on covering current automotive issues. However, in 2015, mobile.de GmbH became involved in the operation, leading to the dissolution of the editorial team at the end of 2018.
Despite this change, Motor-Talk continued to attract a large number of users. According to the company, it had around 3.6 million “unique users” per month recently.
The decision to shut down Motor-Talk is part of mobile.de GmbH’s plan to redirect its focus and resources towards actively shaping the ongoing transformation in the automotive industry. This includes exploring new sales avenues such as car subscriptions and other emerging forms of sales.
Mobile.de GmbH, along with Kleinanzeige.de, now belongs to the Norwegian company Adevinta, which acquired eBay’s advertising business in 2020.
The closure of Motor-Talk marks the end of an era for the thriving car forum, leaving its loyal community of users to find alternative platforms to engage in discussions and share their experiences.
In the meantime, mobile.de GmbH will be working on implementing innovative solutions to adapt to the changing automotive landscape and meet the evolving needs of car buyers and sellers.
