Not so many new concept and production cars were presented at this year’s NAIAS. The Detroit motor show seems to have lost a great deal of its former relevance as the forward-looking, technologically-orientated presentations move to venues like the Los Angeles auto show and CES in Las Vegas. Still, there was interesting and noteworthy lighting to be seen at NAIAS; clearly lighting is going from strength to strength as a main pillar of vehicle design and technology. Here are some of the lights we found particularly attractive:
Honda Civic gets a striking new LED front lighting package on certain models—probably prompted by the standard-equipment LED low beams introduced on direct competitor Toyota Corolla two years ago.
Unlike the Corolla’s conventional-looking headlamp, the Civic setup is dashing and high-tech, echoing the multi-element styling seen in Honda’s high-end Acura setups with nine complex shovel optics under emitters. There’s a white LED DRL wraparound element, and an amber LED turn signal eyelid.
Sentra, likewise competing directly with Toyota’s Corolla, gets directly competitive LED low beams in a front combination lamp finely crafted by Hella. The low beam projector has an interesting horizontal oblong lens with uplight provision also providing an eye-catching depth effect. High beam and turn signal are with filaments, as are underslung fog lamps, but there appears to be a white LED DRL—and maybe even a headlamp cleaning system
