In the next 5 years, there will be 10 to 15 models with full-LED headlamps amongst
450 car models worldwide. Thus they will maintain a niche product, said Dr. Hamm in an interview with Automobil Industrie.
Dr Hamm is pictured presenting a paper on AL’s LED headlamps during the SAE International Congress in April 2008: finally, it’s here — since the beginning of June you can buy the world’s first full-LED headlighting system in the Audi R8 for a price of €3 590.
Audi supplier Automotive Lighting are happy with this technological breakthrough. But Hamm says halogen lamps will long continue to dominate the headlamp market due to unbeatably cheap prices. What is the cost of LED lights compared to the halogen variant? “At least ten times more,” says Hamm. A normal halogen headlight does not need a control unit, when the LED does…”
Hamm is sure that the LED lights will succeed not based on their lighting performance, but mainly because of their styling and brand recognition potential: “For the first time, with the LED technology OEMs have the possibility to illuminate during daytime or night the contours of their vehicle in a clearly recognisable way. Also starting from 2010, every homologated vehicle in Europe will have a daylight [running lamp] function. The quantities will come with the next generation: first with LED in signal functions, then for the full LED headlamps versions.”
Read the entire interview with Dr. Michael Hamm in the June issue of “Automobile Industry”.