The arrival of LED headlamps is totally changing the volumes of development resources needed within our lighting industry.
If we look back into the history of lighting technologies, before 1985 there was no differentiation between high and low segment for a particular car model. It was only one parabola with one H4 compartment. Occasionally an H1 pocket was added.
During the period 1985-1995 , the first differentiation started with projector and SC/FF low beams, with or without clear lens. At first, only a few models used this possibility of differentiation; H4 and similar basic technology still prevailed. During the next decade 1995-2005 , a new differentiation arrived with Xenon light, which required a great increase of development resources. Parabolic reflectors were phased out. The differentiation of low range and high range boiled down to halogen vs. xenon light sources. During the period 2005-2010 , another new differentiation arrived with AFS.
The 2 technologies, halogen and xenon were kept, and a third option with AFS was added for the same model of car. With the recent 2008-2011 arrival of LED in the market, co-existing with Halogen/Xenon and sometimes with intelligent AFS/Adaptive Lighting Systems, the possible options are again increased in number for the same car model. And we are seeing the technological eras grow markedly shorter: from multiple decades to a single decade to five years to three years or less.
For the next half decade 2012-2016 , all car makers become interested in LED technologies because they allow high styling differentiation (appearance and colour of the light) and energy reduction. It is difficult to evaluate an average development time for one headlamp project due to differences in styling, perceived value or lighting performances. Nevertheless, development data below seems a fair simplified approach, not including intelligent lighting:
Halogen H4 or double pocket = 10,000 hours
Xenon = 20,000 hours