As Ford gears up to produce a 2012 hybrid plug-in vehicle, Holland's Johnson Controls/Saft is making plans to make the batteries for it and to invest $200 million in a manufacturing facility.
According to excerpts from the story:
You may never have heard of one of the biggest players in batteries for electric cars, but chances are you've been touched by one of its products. Bought aSears Diehard battery recently? Chances are it was actually made by Johnson Controls, the world's leading battery maker.
Other company car batteries are issued under such familiar names as NAPAand Pep Boys. This is not a small company: From a humble beginning making what was arguably the world's first thermostat (hence the name) Johnson Controls has grown into a $30 billion business (it was $38 billion before the recession) and 75,000 employees (6,000 of them engineers and designers). Johnson Controls' auto business takes in instrument panels, seating, door and overhead systems and automotive electronics. But it's batteries we're talking about here.
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