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The Auto Club Group Expands to Include AAA Nebraska

4 October 2000

The Auto Club Group Expands to Include AAA Nebraska

    DEARBORN, Mich., Oct. 4 AAA Nebraska has agreed to become
affiliated with The Auto Club Group, a Dearborn, Mich.-based alliance of AAA
clubs that includes AAA Michigan, AAA-Chicago Motor Club and AAA Wisconsin.
The merger agreement is pending approval by AAA National and state regulatory
agencies in Michigan and Nebraska.
    Under the terms of the agreement, AAA Nebraska will become part of The
Auto Club Group through a holding-company arrangement.  With the addition, The
Auto Club Group will be a regional alliance of approximately 3.24 million AAA
members:  1.725 million from AAA Michigan; 750,000 from AAA-Chicago Motor
Club, which also serves members in northern Indiana; 565,000 from AAA
Wisconsin, and 200,000 from AAA Nebraska.
    The merger is the most recent in a series of actions by AAA clubs across
the country to consolidate and combine operations to improve service to
members and reduce expenses by spreading fixed costs over a larger membership
base.
    "The regional alliance we are creating will be a stronger and more dynamic
organization than any of our separate companies.  Customer service will be a
core competency of the new enterprise, and we will develop a strong,
technology-based customer-service operation to solidify the affinity members
have with us," said Charles H. Podowski, president/CEO of The Auto Club Group.
    "The most significant change for AAA Nebraska will be the strengthening
and expansion of our business, made possible by combining the clubs' forces,"
stated Robert Stubblefield, president and CEO of AAA Nebraska.
    Once the merger is approved by state regulators and other details are
resolved, the transaction should be completed by the end of the first quarter
of 2001.