New York International Auto Show - AutoTrader.com, the ultimate automotive marketplace, today announced that it has partnered with Rich "Goose" Gossage, 2008 National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, to launch "Drive to a New Start," a multi-city road tour to help provide America's youth with new beginnings through baseball.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080320/CLTH079 )

"Drive to a New Start" underscores AutoTrader.com's expanded focus on the new car market. Featuring a premier customized new 2008 Chevrolet Tahoe, the AutoTrader.com one-of-a-kind interactive mobile experience will visit stadiums of the Atlanta Braves, the Chicago Cubs, the Los Angeles Angels, the New York Yankees, the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Francisco Giants over the baseball season. AutoTrader.com will raise funds for these teams' local Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) or similar youth outreach programs, designed to promote the game of baseball to youth in underserved areas.

Consumers also will have an opportunity to win a vehicle just like the one being toured by entering AutoTrader.com's Turn 2 sweepstakes. They can also play the Turn 2 online game and see how Goose Gossage brings on the heat.

At each road-trip location, AutoTrader.com will collect baseball celebrity signatures on the customized vehicle and will donate $1,000 per signature, up to a maximum of $75,000. At the conclusion of the program, AutoTrader.com will auction the one-of-a-kind vehicle - complete with celebrity signatures - with all proceeds benefiting the local team's RBI programs. Each autograph will be witnessed by a Steiner Sports representative and authenticated with a Steiner Sports tamper-proof hologram and certificate in accordance with Steiner Sports' authentication process. In select locations, AutoTrader.com and Goose Gossage will also host a special baseball clinic for a local RBI or similar program.

Goose Gossage said, "In this year of new starts, I'm very proud to partner with AutoTrader.com for 'Drive to a New Start' to support the team's local youth baseball programs. Baseball has been such an important part of my life and I personally want to instill that sense of competence, usefulness, belonging and teamwork among our youth."

In January 2008, Goose Gossage was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. He will begin his new start as a Hall of Famer when he is inducted into the Hall on July 27, 2008 in Cooperstown, NY. Gossage played 21 seasons for nine different teams, spending his best years with New York and San Diego, before retiring in 1994.

"2008 also represents a year of new starts for AutoTrader.com as we expand our focus to new cars," said Chip Perry, AutoTrader.com CEO. "With fewer youth engaged in sports, and particularly in baseball, we are excited to help provide America's youth with a new start, supporting RBI's mission to revive youth athletic participation in underserved areas, teach kids the benefits of team sports and instill key life skills."

AutoTrader.com's New Car Focus

"We are also stepping up our support of the new car market in a big way," Perry added. "In order to make shopping for a new car easier than ever, only AutoTrader.com will combine information, reviews, incentives, pricing and the most new car listings all in one place, providing consumers with all the new car information they need before visiting local dealers."

To help consumers achieve their automotive new start, AutoTrader.com offers more than 1.2 million new cars listed for sale. AutoTrader.com this year has launched new site functionality aimed specifically at making new-car shopping on the site easy, efficient and fun. New tools like 360-degree interior and exterior spins, enhanced and enlarged photographs, color-change ability, videos and the ability to compare cars across manufacturer, model, body style, incentives and other criteria have been developed to make AutoTrader.com the most comprehensive site for new-car shoppers.

"Our goal this year is to give new-car shoppers the most complete suite of tools for researching, comparing, building and locating their perfect new car," said Perry. "We're excited about launching this initiative at the New York International Auto Show, a perfect connection to consumers searching for new cars."

For more information on Drive to a New Start, visit www.AutoTrader.com/newstart

About Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities presented by KPMG

RBI presented by KPMG is one of many Major League Baseball initiatives dedicated to enhancing youth participation and interest in baseball and softball. Specifically, RBI is designed to promote interest in the sport and encourage kids to stay in school. RBI programs have been started in more than 200 cities worldwide, and annually provide as many as 120,000 boys and girls the opportunity to play baseball and softball. For more information, please visit: http://www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/official info/community/rbi.jsp

For more information about the RBI presented by KPMG, visit: www.mlb.com/rbi

About AutoTrader.com

AutoTrader.com, created in 1997 and headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., is the Internet's leading auto classifieds marketplace and consumer information website. AutoTrader.com aggregates in a single location more than 3 million vehicle listings from 40,000 dealers and 250,000 private owners, which provide the largest selection of vehicles attracting more than 13 million qualified buyers each month. Through innovative merchandising products such as multiple photos and comprehensive search functionality, AutoTrader.com unites buyer and seller online - dramatically improving the way people research, locate and advertise vehicles. AutoTrader.com is a majority-owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. The venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is also an investor. For more information, please visit www.autotrader.com.

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SOURCE: AutoTrader.com

CONTACT: Mark Scott, Senior Manager, Media Relations, +1-404-568-7905,
mark.scott@autotrader.com, or Alejandra Barron, Manager, Media Relations,
+1-404-568-7903, alejandra.barron@autotrader.com, both of AutoTrader.com

Web site: http://www.autotrader.com/
http://www.autotrader.com/newstart
http://www.mlb.com/rbi