DieHardis an American brand ofautomotive batteryand parts owned byAdvance Auto Partsand sold exclusively atAdvance,CarquestandSearsstores. Advance bought the DieHard brand from Sears in December 2019.[1]
 | |
| Product type | Automobile batteries |
|---|---|
| Owner | Sears Roebuck & Company(1967–2004) Sears Holdings(2004–2018) Transform Holdco(2018–2019) Advance Auto Parts(2019–present) |
| Country | USA |
| Introduced | 1967 |
| Website | diehard |
The brand dates to 1967, having been developed by Globe-Union Battery for Sears. Globe-Union was later bought out byJohnson Controls,who continued to manufacture the DieHard for Sears. In its earliest years, the brand was guaranteed to last "forever," that is, as long as the original owner still owned the car in which it was originally installed, in contrast to traditionalpro ratabatterywarranties.[citation needed]The policy later was discontinued.[citation needed]
In 2019 Johnson Controls sold their battery division to Clarios, LLC, who manufacture DieHard brand, along withDuralast,Varta, and AC Delco, as well as 20 other brands.[citation needed]For a time, DieHard batteries were also manufactured byExide.In March 2001, Exide pleaded guilty to fraud conspiracy charges and agreed to pay a fine of $27.5 million to end a federal criminal investigation into auto-battery sales to customers ofSears, Roebuck & Company.The case arose from investigations and accusations that Exide conspired with Sears to sell used batteries as new to Sears customers and that Exide officials had paidbribesto conceal thefraud.[2]DieHard battery manufacturing afterward returned to Johnson Controls.
The DieHard brand is also used on hand tools, power tools, battery chargers, booster cables, power inverters, alkaline batteries, tires, work boots, and the batteries forCraftsmanpower tools. Battery chargers were initially made by Associated Equipment under the "608" model prefix, and then later Schumacher Electric under the "200" model prefix.[citation needed]
In 2017, Sears launched a pilot location in San Antonio for a DieHard-branded auto service franchise, DieHard Auto Center Driven by Sears Auto. The intent was to operate standalone versions of the Sears Auto Center locations attached to Sears department stores; the location was chosen because it was in proximity to a Sears location that had closed.[3]Sears opened another location atOakland MallinTroy, Michigan.[4]
In 2018, parent company Sears filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy.[5]On December 23, 2019,Advance Auto Partsannounced that it had bought the DieHard brand for $200 million.[6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^Tyko, Kelly (December 24, 2019)."Sears sells DieHard brand to Advance Auto Parts for $200 million".USA TODAY.RetrievedNovember 5,2020.
- ^"Exide Will Pay $27 Million in Fraud Case".The New York Times.Bloomberg News. March 24, 2001.Retrieved31 March2018.
- ^McGavin, Stephanie Hernandez (February 21, 2017)."Sears launches free-standing pilot DieHard Auto Center".Automotive News.Retrieved22 February2017.
- ^"100 W Fourteen Mile, Troy, MI 48083".Sears Auto Center.Retrieved2020-07-13.
- ^Corkery, Michael (October 14, 2018)."Sears, the Original Everything Store, Files for Bankruptcy".The New York Times.RetrievedNovember 20,2023.
- ^Thomas, Lauren (December 23, 2019)."Advance Auto Parts to buy DieHard brand from Sears for $200 million in cash deal".CNBC.Archivedfrom the original on December 23, 2019.RetrievedOctober 19,2020.