Johnson Controls has made some seriously crap batteries over time. They're just as prone to that as any conventional OEM.
Instead of offering a standard line to be branded like the expensive manufacturers (at this time I'm aware of two Northstar private labels, but they're the same product; and Diehard Platinums were privately labeled Odyssey units), OEMs like this will manufacture to a specification and price point. A battery manufactured by Johnson Controls is not necessarily "their" battery design built to their standard. That said, if it was, they'd be just as expensive as the other guys, so, you win some and you lose some.
They've got to make money, and they never really invested in their brand identity in the consumer market. That places them at the mercy of the requirements of more recognized and marketed private labels.
So, if Varta said build crap, Johnson Controls would build crap. That's not a knock on their practices or quality capability, it's just the reality of being so darn big.
Exide makes outstanding stuff, but they just don't often sell it here. One should absolutely be careful about their stuff. If you dig, you can find it, but some years you have to dig a very deep hole. It really annoys me, actually, because they absolutely know their stuff; they make some of the best batteries in the world... They just know the average North American consumer has no idea what he's buying, and doesn't really care what he's buying.
Drives me batty. We pay the price for the idle-minded, in the end. They peddle their leftovers to us at high prices, and people don't care.
I'm not hating on them for it... I'd do it too, in their position. It's not Walmart's fault people shop there, for example. They just respond to an irrational demand like anyone with an ounce of sense would.
