Data processing system and method for ranking vehicles and tuning a ranking engine

An automotive data processing system comprising:

• one or more processors communicatively coupled to one or more data storage devices, the one or more processors coupled to a non-transitory computer-readable medium that stores instructions which are executable by the processor to cause the processor to perform:
• tracking user interactions with an automotive data processing system;
• identifying, for each of a plurality of users, a corresponding list of vehicles in which the user has indicated interest through the user interactions;
• for each of a plurality of weight sets, wherein each weight set includes a weight corresponding to each of a plurality of ranking factors,
• ranking, for each of the plurality of users, the vehicles in the corresponding list of vehicles using the weight set,
• generating, for each list of vehicles, a corresponding ranking score,
• generating an aggregate performance score based on the ranking scores for the lists of vehicles, and
• storing the aggregate performance score with an indication of the corresponding weight set;
• comparing the aggregate performance scores corresponding to the plurality of weight sets;
• identifying a weight set that has a best corresponding performance;
• and
• implementing the identified weight set as a working weight set for the ranking engine.

A computer program product for generating vehicle encodings, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform:

• tracking user interactions with an automotive data processing system;
• identifying, for each of a plurality of users, a corresponding list of vehicles in which the user has indicated interest through the user interactions;
• for each of a plurality of weight sets, wherein each weight set includes a weight corresponding to each of a plurality of ranking factors,
• ranking, for each of the plurality of users, the vehicles in the corresponding list of vehicles using the weight set,
• generating, for each list of vehicles, a corresponding ranking score,
• generating an aggregate performance score based on the ranking scores for the lists of vehicles, and
• storing the aggregate performance score with an indication of the corresponding weight set;
• comparing the aggregate performance scores corresponding to the plurality of weight sets;
• identifying a weight set that has a best corresponding performance;
• and
• implementing the identified weight set as a working weight set for the ranking engine.