WebProNews

For the 2007 model year, Toyota discontinued the Matrix XRS (the most powerful version of that particular model).  Closer to 2000, the Ford Escort, a perfectly nice little car, was replaced with the Focus, which was then recalled 12 times.  But things in the automotive world generally improve over the years, and so it was fairly exciting when Autobytel selected Kosmix to power its next-generation website, MyRide.com.

Autobytel’s current site is nice, but it’s not terribly special.  It, Edmunds, Kelley Blue Book, and any number of other sites tend to blend together in terms of usefulness, even if their designs set them apart.  MyRide.com should (if it lives up to a recent press release) showcase some true advances.

The site will offer “numerous search-based content features such as community-based blogs, road crash test reports, green car profiles, future car snapshots, and user car summaries in a set of smart, relevant and intuitive results,” Autobytel said.  And in an email to WebProNews, a Kosmix spokesperson also mentioned sections for service and repair, parts and accessories, and racing and performance - on top of all the standard stuff.

Moreover, MyRide.com has been labeled “the world’s first fully-integrated automotive vertical search experience.”  The site will “leverage Kosmix’s sophisticated web categorization technology,” and the result, dubbed Automotive SmartSearch, “aggregates automotive content from across the Internet and integrates it with comprehensive content relevant to consumers’ needs.”

Can MyRide.com live up to expectations and stand out from the crowd of other automotive sites?  I don’t know.  But so long as MyRide.com doesn’t drain cars of 50 horsepower or cause “the left rear wheel and brake drum assembly to separate from the vehicle,” it’ll easily avoid being the worst thing in the auto industry.  Look for MyRide.com to launch next month.