LoJack revisited

A few months ago, I wrote that this company, which tracks stolen cars using a hidden radio transponder, must be hurting badly what with the OnStar-type satellite navigation systems that come with new vehicles now.

I was way wrong, it turns out.

LoJack's doing better than ever, with its sales up 20% over 2002 and 12% from last year.

The stock is up 40% in the past year, and has more than doubled since 2002, closing at around $11 recently.

Though the now 19-year old company is still relatively small, with $140 million in projected 2004 sales, the future looks bright.

The reason the company continues to flourish is that all the highly-touted satellite navigation systems fail if line-of-sight contact with a vehicle is lost, say, in an underground garage or chop shop.

LoJack's relatively primitive radio transmitter works no matter where the car is, hence the 90% recovery rate for stolen vehicles equipped with its $695 system.