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About Us > History

History

 
Century Yuasa is Australia’s oldest and most recognised battery manufacturer with a proud heritage spanning two centuries. Our story began in 1928 with the Century brand – a household name with Australia’s motoring public.

We have been at the forefront of battery manufacturing and design for over 85 years. Our reputation for quality and innovation has been refined and demonstrated over many decades.

While manufacturing from a raw material level concluded in New Zealand in December 2006, Century Yuasa (NZ) has maintained its expertise in battery technology with its industrial chemistry knowledge being an integral skill set of the sales management team. This expertise is also supported by our manufacturing plants with technical lead acid battery development scientists and engineers based at Century Yuasa Batteries in Brisbane, Australia.

The Century brand continues to be the most recognised battery name in Australia and New Zealand today.

We are an affiliate of the world renowned GS Yuasa Corporation, one of the world’s largest battery manufacturers with affiliates in 19 countries.

Today we continue to lead the industry in the development, manufacture and supply of stored energy solutions across Australia and New Zealand.

Take time to share our journey:

1928

The Century factory was established in Alexandria, Sydney, to produce both battery components and finished batteries for the Sydney market.

1930's-1950's

Century expanded into Victoria and our parent company was listed on the Sydney Stock Exchange.
The company began to supply original equipment (OE) batteries to Chrysler. Further expansions took the company to Queensland and South Australia.

1960's

A Century manufacturing plant was established in Melbourne and there was further expansion into Western Australia.
Century became the first company to introduce polypropylene battery assembly in Australia.

1970's

A Century manufacturing plant was established at Wacol in Queensland. Century also helped to set up a battery factory in Indonesia with a minor shareholding interest.

At the end of the 1970s, Century was taken over by Repco Limited.

As a sign of changing times, Century's hard-rubber container manufacturing plant was closed.

1980's

The '80s was a time of solid market share growth for Century. Century added another manufacturing facility to the existing two in Australia.

Century established an industrial battery division.

International partnerships were forged after Century signed a technical agreement with Japan Storage Battery Company. Century was contracted to supply Ford, General Motors, Nissan and Toyota.

The Australian aftermarket distribution network also grew following the introduction of the ‘Agency Concept’.

With the mid-80s came the rationalisation of our Alexandria and Footscray plants and the sale of a Century factory in Malaysia. Following on from this rationalisation, we established the Carole Park plant in Queensland as a central manufacturing location.

The end of the decade saw joint venture partners Yuasa Batteries Co Ltd of Japan and PT Sapta Panji Manggala of Indonesia take an equity share in the business. They injected even greater technical knowledge and human and financial resources.
Yuasa is a well-established, global brand that is even older than Century. It was established in 1910 and has risen to become a global benchmark for lead acid battery design and quality.

Century's name changed to Century Yuasa Batteries Pty Ltd.

1990's

In the ‘90s, Century Yuasa focused on refining battery technology and quality assurance.
Century Yuasa achieved ISO 9000 and QS 9000 accreditations for our Carole Park factory.
The company's market share grew steadily during this period, a testament to our Australia-wide distribution network and our full-service offer for trade customers.

In the mid ‘90s, Century Yuasa established a battery manufacturing plant in Auckland to give the Century brand a presence in New Zealand.

2000's

Sales grew after Century Yuasa introduced large national aftermarket retail sales networks.
Century Yuasa achieved a number of major upgrades to manufacturing facilities, which included the addition of the latest in automated strip-mill and expander-line equipment.

Century Yuasa also made substantial product improvements by introducing new battery technologies, creating batteries better suited to Australia and New Zealand's weather conditions.

The ground-breaking ‘Performance Series’ was launched. It features many internal improvements and new alloy technologies. This has resulted in a battery that has been proven, through independent testing, to outlast typical automotive batteries by up to three times*.

Meanwhile, the Yuasa Corporation merged with Japan Storage Battery Company (GS) to form GS Yuasa, one of the largest lead-acid battery companies in the world.

2010

Century Yuasa’s vision is to be 'the first choice in stored energy solutions'.

*Based on independent third-party testing, commissioned by CenturyYuasa, using international battery testing standard JIS D 5301 1999 Light Load Endurance test at 75 degrees centigrade of an 11 plate multi-fit product readily available on reseller shelves. Results released April, 2004

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