Car And Driver/Road & Track Owner Buys MotorTrend, Giving It A Car Magazine Monopoly
It hasn’t been a huge secret that MotorTrend, the popular magazine and website, was in the process of being offloaded. Who would buy such a publication? It turns out the answer is Hearst Magazines, the same company that owns Car And Driver, Road & Track, Autoweek, and BringATrailer. As MotorTrend also owns the zombie Automobile magazine and Hot Rod, this means that one company will own all of America’s traditional buff books.
The announcement was made today that MotorTrend Group, which more recently was part of Warner Bros. Discovery, will be sold off to Hearst Magazines and fall under the company’s Hearst Autos umbrella.
This is a big deal as, many years ago, MotorTrend was in competition with the likes of Road & Track, Car And Driver, and Automobile as well as Autoweek, all of whom had different owners at one time. Now they all have a single owner.
MotorTrend Group will expand Hearst’s collection of brands for car enthusiasts and buyers providing even more up-to-the-minute content, commerce and community. MotorTrend Group’s vast portfolio embodies car culture from electric vehicles to timeless classic customs, reaching over 30 million users every month. Its robust events business draws approximately 500,000 passionate enthusiasts every year to iconic experiences such as HOT ROD Drag Week, Roadkill Nights and the Japanese Automotive Invitational at Pebble Beach.
