Auto Recycling E Newsletter

Auto Recycling eNewsletter

For immediate release -February 2005

Written and published by Mike Gibson and Ron Sturgeon, www.autosalvageconsultant.com, email to email Mike Gibson

To register for future free issues, visit http://www.autosalvageconsultant.com. Don’t forget to watch for our management articles monthly in Recyclers Power Source Magazine, or posted at our web site.

This Month’s News

Chicago--(Business Wire)--Feb. 1, 2005

LKQ Corporation (NASDAQ:LKQX) today announced that it acquired Bodymaster Auto Parts, Inc. and a related company that operate in the aftermarket collision automotive replacement parts business. Revenue of this business for the twelve months ended December 31, 2004 was approximately $19.5 million. Bodymaster has two warehouse locations with approximately 100 employees and approximately 35 delivery vehicles. Bodymaster serves customers throughout New Jersey and Delaware as well as the greater areas of Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. We paid approximately $15.4 million, net of acquired cash, for this business. We expect this business will provide between $0.03 and $0.04 in diluted earnings per share to LKQ in 2005.

United Press International, Detroit, MI, Jan 19, 2005 (UPI), More older passenger cars on U.S. roads

The U.S. passenger car fleet is the oldest in history with a median age of 8.9 years, a survey by Southfield, Mich.-based R.L. Polk & Co. said. For trucks, the median age was 6.6 years because of the record 9.8 million new trucks registered in 2004. Passenger cars comprised 59 percent of all vehicles on U.S. roads last year and trucks 41 percent. "Since vehicles are lasting longer, and new light truck registrations around 9 million, we will see a noticeable change in the proportion of cars versus light trucks in the near future," said Marty Miller, product manager of the automotive information service. The percentage of total U.S. vehicles scrapped in 2004 was 5.3 percent, the lowest in two years. The passenger car scrappage rate was 4.8 percent, the lowest in 56 years. The overall rate of trucks heading to the junkyard fell to 6 percent from 7.7 percent in 2003.

State Farm case creates worry, Michael D. Sorkin, The Post-Dispatch, January 31, 2005

The announcement last month that for years State Farm, the nation's largest auto insurer, sold thousands of totally wrecked vehicles without disclosing the damage has some car owners worrying whether they might be driving one.
State Farm says it doesn't know who owns thousands of wrecks it sold since 1997 without the salvage titles required by law. To locate those owners, State Farm is contracting with Carfax, whose databases in Columbia, Mo., may house the largest collection of vehicle histories outside of any government agency. Carfax sells information that could be useful to any potential car buyer. And you may be surprised to learn who has been sending information to Carfax about your vehicle - without your help or even your knowledge. The company boasts it has about 4 billion records in its databases in Columbia, where Carfax started in 1986. Carfax says it routinely gets information from about 7,000 sources in all states. These sources include police and other law agencies, auto dealerships and auto body shops. These sources don't tell you when they send information about your vehicle to Carfax. Have you taken your car to Midas or Meineke for repairs? Those franchises send repair reports to their headquarters, which sends reports to Carfax, says Gerry Bayer, Carfax vice president for data. Has your car been in an accident? Bayer says your local police department may be sending reports to Carfax. Did you take your car to an auto body shop for repairs? Did you go to a car dealership to buy another car? Bayer says Carfax gets information from many of those shops, too.

LKQ "outperform," estimates raised, NEW YORK, February 2 (newratings.com)

Analysts at Robert W Baird maintain their "outperform" rating on LKQ Corporation (LKQXNAS), while raising their estimates for the company. The target price is set to $24.

Ron Attends the Detroit International Auto Show; Record Snow

Included are a few pictures of some new cars from this year’s Detroit New car Show. They had 20” of snow in 2 days. I am from Texas you know, and pretty much hate snow.

How’s Business?

“I believe the true road to preeminent success in any line is to make yourself master in that line. I have no faith in the policy of scattering one's resources, and in my experience I have rarely if ever met a man who achieved preeminence in money making.. certainly never one in manufacturing.. who was interested in many concerns.” Andrew Carnegie

AutoSalvageconsultant.com was formed in 2001 to help recyclers improve their businesses. With over 50 years of experience in 3 staff members, the group is THE definitive source for recyclers’ management and training needs. Mike Gibson and Tammy Sturgeon joined the team in 2003, and bring a wealth of experience to the team, plus more resources, as there have been more requests for help than Ron could meet. The founder, Ron Sturgeon is past owner of AAA Small Car World. In 1999, he sold his six Texas locations, with 140 employees, to Greenleaf. In 2001, he founded North Texas Insurance Auction, which he sold to Copart in 2002. In 2002, his book “Salvaging Millions” was published to help small business owners achieve significant success, and was recently reprinted and published in Chinese. In June 2003, he joined the new ownership and management team of GreenLeaf. He also manages his real estate holdings and investments. You can learn more about how to help your business at www.autosalvageconsultant.com. Mike can be reached at 1409 Carson, Haltom City, TX 76117, (preferably) email Mike Gibson, or 817-925-8430.