Auto Club Forms a New Alliance

The Automobile Club of Southern California said Tuesday that it has aligned with a New England auto club to offer insurance, travel and other services to that club’s 700,000 members in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire.

The move, which is not an acquisition, will give the Auto Club greater scale and its nearly 7 million dues-paying members better services when traveling to New England, said Thomas V. McKernan Jr., president and chief executive of the Auto Club, the largest affiliate of the American Automobile Assn. in the U.S.

McKernan predicts the industry will continue to consolidate in the next few years, pointing out that 50 smaller auto clubs have been lost through combinations in the last seven years, leaving just 78 clubs nationwide.

The alliance with AAA Northern New England is the first by the Auto Club since it acquired the auto clubs of Hawaii, Texas and New Mexico in 1996.

The move will have little effect on the Auto Club’s existing members in Southern California and will not mean higher dues or a change in services, he said. Instead, the Auto Club promised better services for Southern California members when they travel to other states.

The Auto Club of Southern California is a nonprofit organization, which collects millions of dollars yearly, mostly through its travel and insurance businesses. The organization also provides research and independent recommentations, such as the diamond-rating system for hotels.

Last year, the auto club, with its insurance affiliate, reported nearly $1.7 billion in revenue and about $52.5 million in profit.