Exide Technologies Signs New Agreement With Volvo Truck Australia

PRINCETON, N.J., Aug. 22 - Exide Technologies has been selected as the exclusive battery supplier to Volvo Truck Australia. Exide Technologies (OTC Bulletin Board: EXDTQ - News) is a global leader in stored electrical energy solutions. Volvo Truck Australia, a fully owned subsidiary of AB Volvo and Volvo Global Trucks, is the second largest manufacturer of heavy trucks in the world. The two-year agreement calls for Exide to supply OEM starting batteries for the heavy trucks produced by Volvo Truck Australia. The agreement covers both the Volvo and Mack brands of heavy trucks, with each brand being supported by an extensive dealer network across the country.

The new agreement gives Exide Technologies a 74 percent share of the OE battery market for heavy trucks manufactured in Australia. Volvo is one of the four brand leaders that dominates heavy truck manufacturing in the country, and Exide is the exclusive supplier to three of these four leading producers.

The Exide Technologies heavy duty product line selected by Volvo Truck Australia is based on the Exide Extreme® technology now available in the aftermarket. The Exide Extreme® technology, introduced in 1999, features reinforced heavy-duty grids, thick robust plates wrapped in glass-mat separators and "No-Vibe"(TM) bonding, all of which provide superior vibration resistance. The Exide Extreme® also features flameproof vents for safer operation.

Volvo selected Exide Technologies as an OEM supplier after a comprehensive review of the technology behind its heavy-duty product line. Australia, with its high heat, long distances and sometimes unpredictable road conditions, presents special challenges to truckers and the batteries in their rigs.

"All three of our Australian trucking customers conducted independent research and reviews of the Exide technology," said David Enstone, president of the Exide Technologies Transportation Business Group. "They all concluded that the Exide heavy duty product lines are capable of enduring the grueling conditions inherent in Australia's heavy truck market."