End of an era: Autocraft no more Johnson Control?

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Well, I always used to champion Autocraft Silver as a good battery, made in the USA by Johnson Controls, Inc (same as Interstate, etc.)

Today, right now, I see this. Tell me what you see in the photo:

9bdc7f06fbcd1d177becd461a3e6cf31.jpg


frown.gif


?

*it says Made In Mexico on the photo.
Edited to reflect "Autocraft"
 
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I never considered Johnson Controls' batteries to be anything other than average.

East Penn is the US battery manufacturer you want.
 
Originally Posted By: Bottom_Feeder
Why does the fact that it's made in Mexico make it not a Johnson Controls battery?


Thought JCI was in Milwaukee, WI..

This totally was supposed to be in Automotive General Topics.
 
Originally Posted By: nwjones18
I thought all Johnson Controls batteries were made in Mexico now? The ones I just got from walmart were...


Oh wow.

How long ago did this start (is the point of this thread) .. I thought JCI was US based.

Also thought Exide (Bosch, etc) was the worst manufacturer.
 
As I understand it it has to have a country of origin sticker unless it's made in the USA. I just checked my recently purchased Costco Interstate. No made in Mexico sticker.
 
Johnson Controls has 1,300+ world-wide facilities with 150,000+ employees. Different facilities produce different products for different markets, so it's safe to assume that some of their products sold in the US will be manufactured in other countries. If you don't like it, then it shouldn't be all that difficult to find a battery that is made in the USA.

And just in case you didn't know, Johnson Controls recently merged with and is now a part of Tyco International.
 
This is nothing new.
They have been manufactured in Mexico for some time.
I purchased a Silver in 2004 for a Lebaron convertible that I had at the time that had a "Made in Mexico" sticker prominently displayed on it. Only difference was the sticker had an orange background with white lettering. Much more prominent than what is displayed here.
 
"Made in Mexico" just proves its still Johnson Controls, they manufacture tons os stuff there including (IIRC) all of the Optima line. IMO their products haven't been up to 'state of the art' for a long, long, long time and they brought Optima down by buying it and shifting production to Mexico, too.

There are 3 battery manufacturers that rise above the rest (IMO) and still build in the US:

Enersys (Odyssey, Diehard Platinum)

East Penn (Deka)

Northstar (Northstar, Batteries Plus X2Power, etc.)
 
You've got the octagonal vents so it sure looks like a JCI model.

Smelting lead isn't something we like doing in the US for environmental reasons, except maybe for making bullets.
laugh.gif
 
I was thinking along these lines.

You can thank the EPA for most lead related industries moving out of the US.

I live within a two hours drive of what once was a thriving lead mining industry in MO.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doe_Run_Company

Admittedly, lead is a dirty business and no one wants it near them.

So I am not shocked that more and more lead related production and processing is outside of the US.

Originally Posted By: eljefino
You've got the octagonal vents so it sure looks like a JCI model.

Smelting lead isn't something we like doing in the US for environmental reasons, except maybe for making bullets.
laugh.gif
 
Johnson Controls is HUGE in Mexico, they control about 90% of the battery market. I've never been impressed with their batteries, even the fancy ones they sell here don't make it much longer than 4 years. I worked for Napa back when their batteries were made by Exide, I bought and used a few, had problems with none of them.
 
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
There are 3 battery manufacturers that rise above the rest (IMO) and still build in the US:

Enersys (Odyssey, Diehard Platinum)

East Penn (Deka)

Northstar (Northstar, Batteries Plus X2Power, etc.)



The Yuasa division of Exide makes some of the best batteries out there, I think they still have a plant in the US. The Chinese made Yuasa that my motorcycle came with lasted nearly 7 years, that included being discharged to nothing a few times. I replaced it with a Taiwanese made Yuasa. Yuasa has a car battery factory in the UK or Europe, but they don't import those to North America.
 
Anything i buy that is made in Mexico better be a lot cheaper to purchase or i wont even look at it..

Advance auto Autocraft batteries have not been so great for a long time.
 
Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
I never considered Johnson Controls' batteries to be anything other than average.

East Penn is the US battery manufacturer you want.



I agree with this. I buy JCI usually because of the coupon code but I consider East Penn superior
 
This might be a dumb question, but: How do we know which company manufactures what brands? I was quoting old knowledge.

I never knew DieHard Platinum was good. And who makes DieHard International?
 
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