All our patrols are being equipped with diagnostic computers.

Our network of Service Centres has now been fully rebranded.

The ‘JustAAsk’ campaign launched in May has helped broaden awareness of the AA product range.

Business review 4/5

The AA

The underlying profitability of the AA’s core roadside and personal finance businesses continued to grow in 2002. Key to this growth was the investment in the ‘Just AAsk’ campaign to reposition the AA brand. As a result of the campaign product awareness increased from 33% to 43%. This repositioning of the brand supports the AA’s continued drive towards providing end-to-end motoring services to members and cross-sales across the whole product range.

TheAA.com website, which provides an easy way to buy AA products online, attracted 21 million visitors and supplied 16 million route maps in 2002. Judged the most popular UK motoring related site in 2002, it also won a national award for e-business strategy.

The AA continues to act as the independent voice of the motorist. Highlights included February’s launch of EuroRAP, a system to give a safety star rating to Europe’s roads, and the Chancellor’s budget commitment not to make any further fuel tax increases.

AA roadside services

Membership numbers grew during the year, with our share of the personal and business market rising to 31%. Customer satisfaction levels were also up two points at 68%. The AA won the JD Power & Associates UK Roadside Assistance Study award for customer satisfaction and was named the UK’s best motoring organisation in a Which? magazine survey.

We continued to invest in new patrol vehicles, route guidance technology and management systems, and AA patrols received the first of their new all weather diagnostic computers, helping them to fix more faults at the roadside. This system is being rolled out to all our 3,600 patrols in 2003. Our AA training college trained 125 new patrols as well as Service Centre technicians during the year.

AA personal finance

More than 70,000 car and personal loans were taken out during 2002, with product awareness increased by the ‘Just AAsk’ campaign. We had more than 117,000 fixed term personal loans at the end of the year, up 40,000 from the previous year. Our advertising emphasised the benefit of getting ‘car loans from car people’.

Our volume of insurance policies grew, and the customer renewal rate rose to 78%. We launched a motor insurance policy especially for members, which takes breakdown history into account as a key factor in setting the premium. This policy achieved 6,000 sales in the first year. The number of customers taking out our parts and labour policy for vehicle repair expanded to 130,000.

Other AA services

Our 129 garages – acquired from Halfords in 2001 – were rebranded AA Service Centres during the year, increasing our presence in towns and cities across the country. Our purchase of Tyreserve provided a further step to providing a complete motoring service, and as a result our customers now have access to more than 3,000 AA approved fixed and mobile tyre centres.

In the Republic of Ireland, the AA continued to grow and remained the leading provider of roadside assistance and personal insurance services.

Publishing, car data check, the driving school and road signs all did well during the year.

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