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Exide Introduces Battery `Fresh Check' Seal

19 April 2000

Exide Introduces Battery `Fresh Check' Seal, Plain-Language Date Labeling And Consumer Education Program EXIDE BATTERIES The first battery packaging system to fully assure a factory fresh battery. (PRNewsFoto)[AG] READING, PA USA 04/19/2000    

    READING, Pa., April 19 Exide Corporation (NYSE: EX) will
take some of the uncertainty out of buying automotive batteries with the
institution this month of its "Fresh Check" program.
    (Photo:  NewsCom:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000419/PHW006 )
    Exide, the global leader in the lead-acid battery business, has begun
shipping all its aftermarket automotive batteries with a plastic "Fresh Check"
seal firmly adhered over the positive terminal, as well as a plain-language
label informing consumers of the manufacturing date of the battery and warning
them not to buy an Exide battery if the freshness seal has been broken or
tampered with in any way.
    "An intact `Fresh Check' label means the Exide battery is new and has not
been used or installed into a car or truck," explained Robert A. Lutz,
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Exide.  "It means the customer is
getting exactly what they are paying for."
    Industry practices vary in the way batteries are protected and labeled,
but most have packaging or sealing that does not adequately preserve the
integrity of the battery terminals, allowing them to be used by consumers, or
for testing by retail store personnel, and then returned, inadvertently, to
store shelves.
    In addition, automotive batteries are often labeled as to manufacturing
date, if at all, in coding that is unintelligible to consumers.
    "Preserving and enhancing the integrity of the products we sell has been
one of the primary missions of the new Exide management team," said Lutz.  "We
believe these changes, as well as the effort we will make to educate battery
consumers, will raise the standards of the entire industry."
    In addition to the freshness seal and labeling procedures, Lutz outlined
several steps the company would take to educate all automotive battery
customers, including:
    -- A section of its website, http://www.exideworld.com, is now entirely devoted
       to educating consumers on battery purchase issues through the Exide
       "Fresh Check" program.
    -- Literature and other consumer education material distributed to all the
       retail sellers of Exide batteries.
    -- Nationwide communications efforts aimed at providing the best battery
       purchase information available by any manufacturer.
    "We know that the automotive batteries we now ship to retailers throughout
the world are of very high quality and that the changes we are instituting
will provide a great deal of consumer certainty and comfort regarding their
battery purchases," Lutz said.
    The company urged consumers to reject automotive batteries, by any
manufacturer, that have damaged packaging; show signs of dirt or wear; or have
scored and/or scratched terminals, indicating prior use.
    Exide Corporation, with annual revenues of approximately $2.4 billion and
operations in 19 countries, is the world's largest manufacturer of automotive
and industrial lead-acid batteries.  Further information about Exide's
businesses and products is available at http://www.exideworld.com.