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Non-Tech : APCO Automobile Protection Company -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ken Hays who wrote (600)	12/23/1997 11:06:00 PM
From: Manny Gugliuzza	Respond to of 3351

i think used car is the key here for us.? does apco do new car coverage? i know some cars that are used by the dealerships are given new 3 year coverage even if they are over a year old but never sold. unless they reduce the prices of new cars, they can fight all they want all you will see is a lower increase. ar

To: Ken Hays who wrote (600)	12/24/1997 12:20:00 AM
From: Cary C	Respond to of 3351

Hi ken, in regards to your questions I'll try to answer them to the best of my knowledge. 1. I don't think that foreign or domestic car sales will matter that much to APCO. I believe taht they are affiliated with both. the Honda program that they are invovled with represents 12% of their business. Mr. Dorfman on the conference call went on t say that they had a very firm and positive relationship with them and looked forward to their working relationships continuing. In a cinversation with Mr. Levinson he mentioned tthat one of the keys to thier success was who and how they sold to dealerships. He gave an example of using a dealer that sold foreign cars in the mix of dealers because they tended to have a lower repair rate. So I would think that they would be well positioned either way. 2. Car sales declining would naturally be a problem. So far this has not been the case. I could possibly see new car sales declining do to the fact that an average new car costs about $20,000.00 (YIKES). People need vehicles and if new cars sales decreased used car sales should increase. APCO currently sales more warranties for used cars than new. I believe the ratio is about 55% to 58% used with the blance being new. Mr. Dorfman also mentioned that used car warranties produced a little bit more profit margin so this would help the bottom line also. 3. Apco currently has limited exposure in the four largest car markets. Those markets are Texas, California, New York and Florida. The company is working very hard on increasing the exposure in these states. They are agressively looking for qualified distributors or car chains to sell there products. I believe the partnership that they signed with Johnson will help get APCO's name out in these areas also. Hope some of this helps Cary