Exide has launched two new micro-hybrid batteries for the aftermarket.

The move underlines the growing influence hybrid cars will have on the aftermarket and independent garage industries in the near future.

The two batteries are the result of extensive research development with European VMs and have been named the Exide Micro-Hybrid AGM and the Micro-Hybrid EGM.

Both are said to incorporate “advanced technologies specifically designed to meet the needs of the new generation of hybrid vehicles”.

The ECM battery, specified by Fiat, Alfa, Lancia and Toyota, is designed for:

• Entry-level micro-hybrid cars with stop-start systems
• Optimising cycling resistance at high temperatures
• Placement within an engine compartment

The AGM battery is for higher performance cars and is designed to:

• Provide optimal performance in extreme applications
• Have a high charge acceptance
• Have a partial state of charge operations
• Be fitted in cars with stop-start and regenerative breaking systems

This battery is already fitted as OE on BMW’s Efficient Dynamic Series of vehicles, and will be specified by other manufacturers very soon.

Exide sales and marketing director Andrew Bevington said: “The restructured power of Exide technologies in this era places us firmly as one of the largest manufacturers of electrical storage solutions.

“The car is currently at the centre of a technology revolution: Exide is at the heart of that.”

I have just returned from Germany, on a trip to the Freudenberg HQ as guests of Corteco.

I never realised just how much research and manufacturing effort goes into seals and vibration control in cars (the vibration testing machine was awesome).

And also, I had no idea that the history of Freudenberg stretches all the way back to the 19th century, when the company began manufacturing high-quality leather for shoes.

Their automotive history began in the 1920s with the invention of a leather seal – and from then, it’s been growth all the way for one of Germany’s blue-ribbon companies.

The way they do things in Germany seems very different to the UK.

For instance, during a tour of Freudenberg’s innovation centre, I came across a ’space age’ room that changes colour depending on the aims of the people working in it!

I swear this is true: the colours used apparently help activate the brain, in order to stimulate creativity.

Office layout was vastly different to the way we do things, as well.

Space is considered very important. No-one has a desk as we know them; instead people work on portable units which they gather in the morning, plug into a work station that’s free, before packing everything away into the unit at the end of the day.

If you didn’t like the person you were working next to, you could just wheel yourself off to another work station! Brilliant! Watch out Martin Henry!!!

There are more staff rooms too, giving a breathing space that lets staff members take a break.

They even have a table football game – but Reiner Martsfeld, one of Corteco’s big bosses, seemed reluctant to indulge in a one-off Germany v England match with our publisher, Jim Foster!

Posters are displayed openly with support and a gentle prod to help staff with ideas and also the fact that there is no such thing as a bad idea.

Staff brainstorm all creative ideas. This is so important, as new ideas are the key to business success, whether it be packaging design, advert design, new products, store layout or innovations.

Anyone who speaks to me on the phone would be very aware of the background noise we sometimes get here at CAT, which drives me barmy!

What a difference it would make to have an office where we can think and work without interruption. But at the same time, I suppose I have to concede that I have never met a quiet sales person!

Reiner Martsfeld (left) and Steve Jarnet of Corteco