Johnson Controls is to plough US$245m between 2016 and 2020 to double Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) battery production capacity in North America.
"Due to increasing power needs for vehicle accessories and safety functions, along with changing environmental standards, automotive batteries play an increasingly important role in today's vehicles," said Johnson Controls Power Solutions president, Joe Walicki.
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In addition to growing consumer demand for replacement batteries, automakers depend on AGM technology to help improve fuel efficiency up to 5% in vehicles with start-stop systems.
The number of cars built in North America with start-stop systems will approach 50% in 2020 due to increasingly stringent environmental regulations.
"Between 2015 and 2020, Johnson Controls will invest, in total, more than US$780m globally to increase our AGM manufacturing capacity," said Walicki.
"Johnson Controls is the leader in battery manufacturing and we are committed to investing in our factories, our employees and our customers, to ensure we remain the leader when it comes to innovative technology, quality products and strong customer partnerships."
