Batteries haven't changed all that much.
Cars have.
It's a stress thing.
The solution is in the casing... or like fivemega said... insulation would help.
I used to think that batteries were being built with less durability then one day my mechanic showed me the truth. The guy compared the engine bay of an old truck he was working on to the tightly packed bay of my Honda. He showed me with a temperature gun what was taking place and explained a bunch of chemestry stuff and how it all ties into batteries not holding up like they used to.
Any idea how much is being drained from the battery while the car is turned off these days? The computers, the clocks, the saved home entertainment center settings, the alarms, it's crazy. Then the alternator goes into rapid charge mode while trying to keep up with all those gizmos todays 4 wheeled appliances have.
I still get 4-5 years from batteries. Always have. Some factory ones have lasted a decade, but as a rule I get 4-5 years from replacements regardless of brand. I go for the best warranty and don't sweat it.
And I keep a battery box and jumper cables handy for those times when the inevitable failure occurs.
More times than not the battery tells you when it's about to fail. Sometimes you get a few weak starts. Sometimes you get 1. But in 35+ years of driving I've never had one fail without giving me at least 1 warning.
The whole corparate greed thing... nonsense! Our government has placed so many burdensome regulations on manufacturing that they either have to pay what amounts to racketeering protection dues or go to other countries.
Just ask anybody involved in the manufacturing business. Not the CEO's but the movers and shakers who keep the factory running. They'll shake their head and tell you how ridiculous our government here in the US has gotten from the local building inspector to the highest offices in DC. This year alone an average of 200+ federal regulations per day have already been implimented. If you put a regulation counting clock next to the federal deficit clock they'd likely appear to be changing at the same or similar rate.
I pitty any company trying to get started these days. They're done before they even begin.
So if/when my next battery says "made in Mexico" I won't be upset at the company that made it. I'll be upset with the Americans who keep voting for the same fools that got us into this mess.