Ingolf SchneiderI started his career at Opel in 1981 with an education as toolmaker. After getting his degree in mechanical engineering he came to the Electric department as an designing engineer.
In 1989 he got the first project in lighting with Calibra. After some years as Project Engineer he took the lead of Opel’s Exterior lighting group in 1997 until today.
In 2006, he introduced the Bi-Halogen (1 st in the market) and Cornering light on Corsa and Meriva,
Ingolf Schneider is one of the greatest experts on automotive lighting. DVN asked him a few questions.
DVN: With your influence, Opel has become one of the leaders in lighting innovation; the Opel Insignia, Astra and now Safira are the best examples. Could you give us some info on the Insignia’s and Astra’s AFL market share?
Ingolf Schneider.: Insignia was the first car which has the full AFL+ functionality. All functions like Town-, Country-, Motorway-, Adverse Weather-, Cornering lights are included for Right hand traffic, as well as for left hand traffic. In addition to that we also offer together with AFL the Daytime Running Lights with LED in the new Opel specific Signature. This signature in the meantime is democratized into the Opel portfolio from Insignia to Corsa. The market share of our AFL+ System is a real success story. On Insignia we currently have 35% share over Europe and 60% in Germany. The Astra currently has about 20% AFL+
DVN: LED headlamps are being developed very fast. Some forecast of 20% in 2020 is announced. Do you share this data and how do you see the future of Xenon?