NEW YORK — Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI) will supply Ford Motor Co. with absorbent glass mat (AGM) batteries for the 2013 Fusion.

AGMs are primarily used in vehicles that use start-stop technology, which has become popular in Europe over the past decade. JCI has produced 18 million AGM batteries for the European market since 2001 and now produces 4.5 million annually.

Milwaukee-based JCI will invest $6 million to grow its domestic AGM manufacturing capacity at its facilities in St. Joseph, Mo., and Toledo, Ohio.

Ford is one the first manufacturers in the United States to use start-stop technology in mass-market vehicles.

The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker declined to comment on other models that might incorporate start-stop technology in the future.