W’re celebrating a lot of big anniversaries in the automotive lighting world these months. Hella’s turn was a few years ago; AL’s is very soon, and then come Valeo and Koito.
But we mustn’t forget a very important techncal anniversary: It was 50 years ago in 1962 when the modern headlighting age arrived with the first H1 halogen bulbs. Since then, the quantity of light put out by production vehicle headlamps has increased fivefold.
Here is a retrospective of the main industrial developments and important inventions during these last five decades:
The 3 periods
1962-1990
– Refinement & proliferation of halogen bulbs, big progress in optics
– Supremacy of Europe with Cibie, Marchal, Carello, Bosch, Lucas, & Hella
1990-2005
– Arrival of electronics: HID in front, LED in rear
– New Big 4: AL, Hella, Valeo, and Koito
2005 – 2012
– Priority on seeing & also on being seen better
– Intelligent lighting and acceleration of new technologies
– LED in front
– Growth of ZKW and Koreans
Top ten auto lighting innovations, 1962-2012:
1962 : H1 halogen bulb with one filament
The first halogen headlight bulbs appeared on the market. Source flux was multiplied by 2 versus the previous standard R2 light source (1300Lm vs 700Lm ) with better lifespan.
1972 : H4, halogen bulb with two filaments
The first halogen bulb capable of producing both a low and a high beam with just one bulb and optic was developed by Cibie, Marchal, and Norma at the Chartres factory now belonging to Philips. The H4 bulb is the world’s most popular type, still used in high volume in low and mid-range vehicles—the new 2012 VW Beetle uses H4 in the standard-equipment headlamps, for example.