Issue 02/09d26maze4pb6to3.cloudfront.net/varta...0209_UK.pdf · an existing Johnson Controls site in Holland, Michigan. “Battery technology is strategi-cally important to the future

The Johnson Controls Power Solutions Europe customer magazine

‘IT TAKES COURAGE TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN THESE TROUBLED TIMES’ With courage, vision, a passion for innovation and good business partnerships, our company is seiz-ing on the current downward trend in the car industry and turning it into an opportunity for the future.

Jean-François Bouveyron, Vice President of European Independ-ent Aftermarket at Johnson Con-trols, shares his views on issues that currently affect everyone in the industry:

What has been the impact on Johnson Controls and what are you doing about it?Of course, we’ve experienced a fall

in sales to manufacturers like eve-

ryone else. But we’re not panicking

about it – rather we’re adjusting

our production accordingly and,

at the same time, increasing our

investment into researching new

technologies such as AGM and

lithium-ion batteries. We think the

future offers great opportunities to

give lasting energy to the whole

battery industry as the market for

hybrid cars, for example, will grow

rapidly in the years ahead. Hence

it’s absolutely essential that we

should be equipped with the very

best technology in this area.

Does that mean that the company is well prepared for the future?Yes – for several reasons. First of

all, our size as the global market

leader means that we’re very

healthy as a business. Secondly,

we’ve been reporting good results

in the aftermarket sector and have

even witnessed modest growth

in absolute numerical terms. Our

dealers are always very good at

monitoring how many batteries

they have in stock. Here too, we

see ourselves as market partners

and offer support with optimised

programmes and warehouse plan-

ning that reflects stocks. Further-

more, we’ve got the advantage that,

unlike with other parts, customers

have to replace a defective battery

straight away – without a battery,

a car simply isn’t going anywhere.

What about the strategy that was introduced last year of having three different passenger car battery product lines? Has that helped?Yes. Our wholesalers have been

good at presenting the clear differ-

ences between the various product

lines to their customers. It’s a strat-

egy that’s been a noticeable suc-

cess, not just with our existing cus-

tomers but also with the new ones

that we’ve been able to secure.

The success of such segmentation

is borne out by the fact that we’re

now also introducing it in the com-

mercial vehicles sector. In this area,

we’re the first company to bring

completely maintenance-free bat-

teries onto the market, something

which for our partners represents

yet another good sales argument

in favour of VARTA batteries.

Issue 02/09

Dear readers,

Jean-François BouveyronVice President Independent Aftermarket Johnson Controls Power Solutions Europe

It gives me great pleasure to introduce this second issue of PowerNews. I’d also like to thank you very much for all your positive feedback on the first issue.

In this issue, we’ll be focus-ing on the current eco-nomic situation, something which unfortunately affects us all. Johnson Controls are not only working to tackle the effects of this across a whole range of areas of our business. Rather, as you’ll read over the following pages, we’re also working to support our business partners.

Apart from offering expert information, it goes without saying that we’re also pro-viding innovative products that have real benefits for both dealers and end con-sumers. A good example is our latest generation of truck batteries, which we’ll be introducing in detail in this issue. The UK section of the newsletter goes into more detail about the im-provements we’ve made.

I hope you enjoy reading this issue. If you’d like to offer any feedback, you can email me at: [email protected]

Whether it’s for a sailing boat or a golf cart, the new VARTA Hobby batteries guarantee non-stop power when you really need it.Their depth of discharge of up to

80 % ensures an excellent supply

of power, no matter how far you

are from the nearest plug. And

their extremely rapid recharge

acceptance even after long

periods of disuse means that

you’ll be ready for your next trip

in no time. You can now find all

the information on technical

specifications and dimensions,

along with the on-board electri-

cal system calculator, online at:

www.varta-automotive.com

NOW ALSO FEATURED ONLINE: THE NEW VARTA HOBBY RANGE

This April, Johnson Controls Saft announced plans to build the US’s first plant for manufacturing lithi-um-ion batteries, to be located on an existing Johnson Controls site in Holland, Michigan.

“Battery technology is strategi-cally important to the future of the US automotive industry and the economy at large,” explained

Alex A. Molinaroli, President of

Johnson Controls Power Solutions.

The new plant in Michigan will

not only create 500 jobs at the

factory itself, but also many more

with suppliers in the surrounding

area. It’s also an important part

of the company’s strategy for the

future and commitment to hybrid

technology in North America.

The new factory represents an

investment of approximately

€165 million, and is capable of

producing 15 million lithium-ion

cells per year. As well as ensuring

future collaboration with vehicle

manufacturers across the globe,

it also further extends Johnson

Controls’ leading position as a

supplier to manufacturers of ve-

hicles with innovative powertrain

systems. That’s because almost

all future hybrid systems will rely

on lithium-ion batteries to supply

them with energy. They’re smaller

and more powerful than other

batteries and could be produced

at lower costs in future due to more

efficient production methods.

The world’s first plant for the

manufacture of lithium-ion bat-

teries opened in 2008 in Nersac,

France. It’s currently producing

batteries for the hybrid variant

of the Mercedes S-Class, which

is scheduled for launch later this

year. It will also be supplying the

new BMW 7 Series from 2010

and the first Ford hybrid vehicles

from 2012.

Johnson Controls Saft is the

world’s leading manufacturer

of battery systems for hybrid

vehicles, and is a joint venture

between Johnson Controls, a

leading producer of car bat-

teries, and Saft, a company

that specialises in the develop-

ment of high-tech batteries.

JOHNSON CONTROLS UPS THE POWER:

NEW FACTORY FOR LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES

The entire commercial vehicles sector has been hit particularly hard this year by the economic crisis. These external conditions can only be influenced to a lim-ited degree, so it’s important for commercial vehicle fleet operators to avoid unscheduled downtime and to optimise running costs. The new range of VARTA commer-cial vehicle batteries can make a significant contribution to this.

Nothing is as inefficient as a util-

ity vehicle that can’t be utilised.

The new Promotive Trio batteries

set the standard for reliability,

durability and efficiency - and

ensure optimum starting power

in every situation, even under the

most extreme loads. As the only

batteries available in Europe to

feature calcium-silver technol-

ogy, VARTA batteries guarantee

the highest standards of energy

reserves and robustness as well

as minimal self-discharge in all

areas of application. All batteries

are supplied filled, fully charged

and ready for use.

Under the slogan “The right bat-

tery for every application”, John-

son Controls is putting the indi-

vidual area of application at the

heart of selecting the right battery.

That’s because, whether they’re

HGVs, trucks, vans, coaches,

municipal vehicles, agricultural

vehicles or construction vehicles,

all vehicles have different battery

performance requirements.

Another important consideration

is cost-effectiveness. Solutions

with a low initial purchase price

may seem tempting at first

glance - but in reality they sel-

dom mean low costs, especially

in the long run. For example,

for a fleet of 60 vehicles each

equipped with two conventional

starter batteries, two services

a year will result in costs of up

to approximately £7K. With

maintenance-free Promotive Trio

batteries, servicing costs are

eliminated completely.

The new Promotive batteries for

commercial vehicles are available

in three variants: Promotive Silver

and Promotive Blue, which both

feature calcium-silver technology

and a Labyrinth lid, and Promotive

Black with hybrid technology.

To quickly find the right battery

for any individual vehicle and

application, the new commercial

vehicles product finder will be

available online at www.varta-

automotive.com. You will also be

able to use the savings calculator

to find out the potential savings

from using maintenance-free

VARTA batteries instead of con-

ventional ones.

OVERCOMING THE DOWNTURN IN THE COMMERCIAL VEHICLES SECTOR THROUGH INNOVATION:

THE NEW VARTA PROMOTIVE BATTERIES

Alex A. MolinaroliVice President and PresidentJohnson Controls Power Solutions

NEW THREE TIER VARTA BATTERY RANGE FOR

UK CV AFTERMARKET

Welcome to the UK section of our June issue of POWER NEWS which we have dedicated to the launch of our new Promotive Trio range.

But first, a few words on one of the issues that might shortly have an affect in our market; as part of the general economic stimulus pack-age, many countries including the UK are rolling out “old banger” scrappage incentive schemes – es-sentially a taxpayer subsidised in-centive to get old cars off the road and kick start sales of new cars. Whilst this may seem a good idea to those people who are thinking of changing from an old car to a brand new one, with all the attend-ant reliability and fuel consumption benefits, there may well be a hid-den cost for many businesses in-volved in aftermarket parts, includ-ing batteries.

Essentially any “forced” accelera-tion of used car replacement vol-umes will decrease the number of older cars on the road, and will therefore reduce demand for after-market parts. Under normal circum-stances, ie when cars follow their “normal” end of life cycle, the af-termarket volume behaves in a pre-dictable way. However if a dispro-portionate number of old cars are scrapped in a very short period, then the demand for their parts re-duces very quickly – this can cause a major interruption to demand which can last months or years un-til the normal replacement rhythm is re-established.

It seems that the incentive in the UK is lower than in many oth-er countries – this will clearly lim-it the effectiveness of the scheme, and probably limit the effect on the aftermarket. But it is interesting to see that even apparently uncon-nected financial events can affect our key product segment. You can be sure Mr Brown did not consider the Battery Industry before making his decisions recently!

Dear Customer,

Paul Matarewicz Managing Director UK and Ireland

The new Promotive CV battery range comes in three clearly defined performance levels to meet all commercial applica-tions – from trucks, buses and coaches to construction and agricultural machinery – and reflects the emerging trends in OE commercial battery fitment.

VARTA Promotive SilverLong distance trucks with sleeper cabs, buses and coaches and special vehicles with additional electrical equipment need the VARTA Promotive Silver battery,

which offers the highest EN level V3 vibration-resistant and EN level E4 cyclic durabil-ity ratings.

Available in three types with 145, 180 and 225 Ah ratings in silver cases, these super heavy duty specification batteries are also totally maintenance-free.

They feature a specially designed labyrinth lid, central degassing, special plugs, flame arrestor and glass mat and envelope separators for added cyclic durability in extremely demanding applica-tions.

VARTA Promotive BlueFor more recently manufac-tured commercial vehicles with standard power require-ments, we recommend the VARTA Promotive Blue battery, a heavy duty product with high cyclic durability and vibration resistance. This battery is ideally suited to standard specification long and short distance trucks, municipal, construction and agricultural vehicles and machinery.

These Promotive Blue batter-ies are 100 % maintenance-free, and also feature a labyrinth safety cover, >>

Hot off the press: Introducing the new Promotive Silver, Blue and Black ranges to the UK aftermarket, a 3-tiered range following the successful market segmentation strategy of our car Trio range.

central degassing, special vent plugs and an integral flame arrestor for added safety. Five battery types rated from 140 – 215 Ah are offered in a silver-coloured case with blue labelling.

VARTA Promotive BlackFor older trucks, light com-mercials vehicles and plant

and farm machinery, we are introducing the VARTA Promotive Black, a mainte-nance-free battery incorporat-ing hybrid technology and built to a robust specification to deliver high vibration resistance.

The technology behind the powerThe grid alloy used in all the Promotive Blue and Promotive Silver CV batteries is formed of a positive calcium-silver grid, which effectively reduces the battery’s water consumption to

a minimum. Thicker elec-trodes are also used to substantially increase cyclic stability. The Promotive Black, which is based on tried and tested hybrid technology, provides outstanding power reserves and performance, and is 100 % maintenance-free under normal operating conditions.

Our Calcium-silver technology batteries have already been put through an exhaustive 4-year test programme to analyse their performance

against traditional lead-acid batteries. These tests proved conclusively that the Promotive batteries incorporating calcium-silver technology performed significantly better.

Our research shows us that the single most persuasive argument for your commer-cial vehicle target customer is to present our product as the one which makes the most commercial sense for their business. But we also know it’s not always easy to convey the message that fitting a better battery makes more commercial sense in the long run. To this end, our entire marketing support package for the new Promotive Trio range has been designed around the theme that fitting a Promotive ultimately pays

off. Whilst we of course offer all the necessary technical substantiation that you would expect from the market lead-ing battery manufacturer, we focus on the end-user decision-maker in our key communications, and you will have at your disposal some interesting marketing tools to help you in the sales task.

After all, in the current eco-nomic climate, the longer lifespan offered by the Trio range as a result of their robust and innovative design translates into a real business

benefit for the fleet operator, and should have some resonance. The business owner needs his commercial

vehicles to stay on the road; he simply cannot afford to lose income through down-time. A battery problem on a fully laden lorry with a tight delivery schedule will not only cost money in recovery, lost cargo and re-allocation of workload. It could also cost future business and future profit. Replacing batteries which have failed early, either due to poor product choice . incorrect specification or lack of maintenance is an unnec-essary expense. Choosing the VARTA Promotive at the outset, which offers complete freedom from maintenance and the associated downtime, and longer life, makes much more sense in the long run.

Innovative Marketing tools that make it easyTo support the launch and to promote the fact that the VARTA Promotive is always a good investment, we are of-fering some innovative, new on-line tools. The first, our “product finder”, will help the

user to find the right VARTA battery for their needs, and a convenient “cost-calculator” tool will help them the calcu-late potential cost-savings as-sociated with “freedom from maintenance”. The “calcula-tor” tool is very user-friendly and will allow the user to se-lect their approximate hourly labour cost of battery main-tenance in £ sterling, and calculate the potential saving across their entire fleet. Other marketing support includes a printed version of the product finder and cost calculator, a 2009 applications catalogue, and a video podcast shortly to be made available on our internet site. A direct mail service of the launch pack to your customers is available on request – please contact [email protected] to take advantage of this direct mail opportunity.

CONVINCING SALES ARGUMENTS FOR FITTING A BETTER BATTERY

1

2

Negative grid: calcium2

1 Positive grid: calcium-silver

Unterschrift

Datum

Unterschrift

Datum

Unterschrift

Datum

Text

Etat

Kunde

Art

RZ

Prod.POWER THAT PAYS

FOR ITSELF.

ERRECHNEN SIE IHR

EINSPARPOTENZIAL.

Kalkulieren Sie Ihre heutigen Wartungs- und Servicekosten mit herkömmlichen Batterien und ermitteln Sie so, was Sie mit einer wartungsfreien Promotive jährlich sparen können.

Die Berechnung basiert auf einem Arbeitsaufwand von 17,5 Min. pro Batterie.

Hierbei handelt es sich um eine Beispielrechnung.

1-10

1-10

1-10

Service-Intervallepro Jahr

Mechaniker-Stundensatz

Flottengröße

Batterien pro Fahrzeug1-10Servicekosten mit PROMOTIVE TRIO:

0,00 Euro

Statten Sie Ihre Fahrzeuge noch heute mit den neuen VARTA Promotive NKW-Batterien aus.

CE +/- % :

7 8 9 x

4 5 6 –

1 2 3 +

4

1.085,00 €

CE

7

4

1

4

+/-

8

5

2

%

9

6

3

:

x

–

+

Einsparpotenzial:

POWERFUL VARTA BATTERIES AS GOOD AS THE ORIGINALEvery year, car manufacturers bring out new models, most of them equipped with lots of electronic equipment. These require high-quality batter-ies that can be relied upon unconditionally – today and

tomorrow. When replacing the battery, it’s important to fit one that’s as good as the original, as this is the only way to make sure that the vehicle’s power requirements continue to be met.

Johnson Controls Power Solutions Europe is prepared for such situations, with bat-teries to fit even the newest cars. This overview lists the latest models and the VARTA batteries for them as recom-

mended by Johnson Con-trols. As a high-end product for vehicles which demand high performance, we partic-ularly recommend the VARTA SILVER dynamic range.

MoDEl lAUNCHED ENGINE UlTRA SIlVER BlUE

Audi A5 Cabriolet Jan 09 Petrol/Diesel 595 901 085 610 402 092 595 402 080

A5 Sportback Jun 09 Petrol/Diesel 595 901 085 610 402 092 595 402 080

A8 Jun 09 Petrol/Diesel 595 901 085 610 402 092 595 402 080

Mercedes E-Class Mar 09 Petrol/Diesel 595 901 085

Vauxhall Insignia Sep 08 Petrol 574 402 075 560 409 054

Insignia Diesel 585 200 080 580 406 074

Renault Mégane Sep 08 Petrol/Diesel 570 901 076 585 200 080 574 012 068

Mégane Coupé Sep 08 Petrol/Diesel 570 901 076 585 200 080 574 012 068

Seat Exeo Jun 09 Petrol/Diesel 570 901 076 600 402 083 574 012 068

Škoda Yeti Mar 09 Petrol 563 400 061 552 400 047

Yeti Mar 09 Diesel 570 901 076 577 400 078 560 408 054

VW Polo May 09 Petrol 563 400 061 552 400 047

Polo May 09 Diesel 563 400 061 560 408 054

Absorbent Glass MatTECHNoloGyAGM

New information will be included in the next edition of the VARTA car application guide, which is based on the latest European data.Please note not all countries stock the entire European range. The battery search at www.varta-automotive.com is constantly updated.