Brands hiding their manufacturers is nothing new. Maybe it’s about reputation. Or industry secrets. Or competition. Whatever the case may be, it usually requires a little digging to find out who really makes what. Take NAPA’s Legend batteries, for example. Up until recently, there was very little by way of hard evidence that could point to who manufactured them. But in a 2023 safety recall filed with federal regulators, we got confirmation that this major car battery brand is made by East Penn Manufacturing.
The recall went for dozens of specific Group 48 automotive batteries manufactured between Feb. 28 and March 2, 2023. NAPA Legend Batteries were among the brands affected. This notice makes it irrefutable: For all the battery brands to be part of this production run, they’d have to share a manufacturing source. That’s East Penn. To be clear, this type of private-label manufacturing is extremely common in the automotive industry. Just look at how many private label brands AutoZone has.
Still made in the US, just not by NAPA
NAPA markets its Legend batteries as high-performance, maintenance-free products made in the United States. We know that last part’s true thanks to East Penn Manufacturing. The company’s manufacturing arm includes a massive 520-acre production complex in Berks County, Pennsylvania. It houses multiple automotive battery plants, technical centers, and even specialized operations like lead smelting and water purification.
It might not be an official National Automotive Parts Association-branded complex, but no matter: Legend batteries are still being built by an established U.S. battery producer with extensive infrastructure and industry experience. In addition to its Pennsylvania headquarters, East Penn also operates another facility in Corydon, Iowa to help support production and distribution. Splitting it up like this helps explain how a single manufacturer can make batteries for so many different brand names.
