Motor1.com launches Spanish edition

Motor1.com, the leading global source of online car reviews, news, and information and part of Motorsport Network, today announced the sixth language version of its digital platform. The dedicated Spanish language edition complements its stable of English, Italian, French, Portuguese and Turkish editions which serve 12 markets. The development is another step towards the ambition to build a ‘global-local’ presence in 15 languages by the end of 2018.

The launch of Motor1.com’s Spanish language edition comes at a time of strong growth for the Spanish car industry. Year-on-year new car sales grew by 11% in 2016, and the domestic manufacturing sector is building 8,000 cars a day.

In addition, Latin American markets are expected to exceed five million new car registrations in 2017, thereby presenting a significant market opportunity across the Spanish-language markets.

Key to this strategy is a commitment to build expansion from a foundation of best-in-class talent and deep in-market expertise. Francisco Fernández, a seasoned industry journalist, will lead the Motor1.com Spanish-language operation as Publisher and brings extensive media experience from leading automotive magazines including Altagama and Coches 2000. He will be supported by Jesús Doncel, formerly of Unidad Editorial, who will head commercial operations.

The Spanish language edition will sit under the direction of Geoff Love, President of European Operations, and be supported by Gustavo Roche, Senior Vice President of Business Development. The site joins Motorsport.com Spain, which has been in operation since April 2016 and is headed by the much respected former F1 commentator, Jacobo Vega.

Francisco Fernández said, “We’re very excited to be opening a new chapter for Motor1.com across the Spanish-speaking world. It is a demographic that is passionate about cars and until now this audience has been served by a fragmented media sector. We plan to serve our audience with the best of localised market-relevant content, but also benefit from the scale and resource of the best automotive platform in the world.”

Gustavo Roche added, "Spain is a pivotal market in Europe with ramifications to Latin America. In 2016, new cars sales passed the 1,100,000 units, making it one of the biggest in the continent in a very active marketplace. This new edition marks the next logical step on Motor1.com expansion strategy."