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Hector Fratty
11791 posts
Hector Fratty, DrivingVisionNews President and Founder has been for his entire career in automotive lighting. From 1995 to 2006, he was Valeo Lighting Systems’ chief of R&D, managing a staff of 650 engineers and technicians and a budget of over €70m. He holds 20 patents worldwide. In 2008, after 2 years’ consultancy, he initiated the launch of Driving Vision News, a news pipeline dedicated to keeping the lighting and driver assistance community informed of the latest progress and development in the industry. Hector Fratty presides over the highly‐regarded biennial VISION Congress international automotive lighting and driver assistance symposium. Hector Fratty is also a member of the ISAL steering committees.
Automotive Lighting in North America
Automotive Lighting in North AmericaJust published. Learn more…
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American Lighting Report Coming
DVN are proud to publish this week a report on vehicle lighting in North America. Our ambition is to show how the North American vehicle lighting market is in many…
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Interviews of two key Tier 1 Suppliers in US.
To prepare the report on “Automotive Lighting in North America”, DVN asked few questions regarding US market to Steffen Pietzonka, Hella lighting Group Vice-President of Marketing and to Christophe Cros, R&D director of Valeo-Sylvania.
Pietzonka: “ We are seeing a growing interest on LED”
DVN: Xenon technology has not had the same success as in Europe. What are the reasons?
Steffen Pietzonka: There are several reasons:
• Cost is still one of the main driver for automotive technology in total in the US
• Car park in the US is different to Europe (many Pick Ups, SUVs with high mounting height of the headlamps)
• Combined with no need for automatic leveling for Xenon headlamps and no power wash a bad glaring discussion in the past still affects the market today
• Road conditions are of course also different to Europe (many lanes in urban areas, long and even road lanes)
• End consumer are not really tech-interested
• Different warranty regulations. Bulbs are included over specific time and are replaced in the Garage for free. So there is no real Market pull for long-lasting solutions
DVN: How do you see the trend of the Xenon 25W light source in US with the total electronic integration?
SP: We have to consider several ways to answer:
• with the arguments above the introduction of the 25W solution will be a challenge
• even for 35W Xenon there is no need for power wash and automatic leveling
• limited space very often is no argument for the implementation of space saving technologies, having the big block engines e.g. of the light truck segment in mind
• energy saving potential of 30W compared to Halogen bulbs could be one future argument for the 25W Xenon bulb in the region
DVN; LED technologies are coming very fast in Europe with the new styling differentiation offers? Do you forecast the same in US?
SP: Even in the US Automakers are focusing more and more attention on rear-end styling, where LEDs also offer clear advantages over incandescent bulbs.
LED rear lamps today are standard on most European luxury cars. On smaller, less expensive car lines LED treatments are offered in option packages to help distinguish a car line’s sport, luxury or special-edition models.
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The End of the ‘ECE’ Era?
For 53 years, the vehicle regulations developed and promulgated under the well-known 1958 Agreement have been known as “ECE Regulations”, referring to the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Europe—the body charged with facilitating pan-European harmonisation to minimise trade barriers and maximise consistency. That nomenclature has become obsolete as the ECE Regulations have been adopted almost…
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Interview with Bob Lutz
Bob Lutz, former GM Vice Chairman of Global Product Development,.gave an interview to Just-Auto.
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John D. Bullough: Framing the Debate on DRLs
Recent coverage of DRLs in Driving Vision News and elsewhere indicates that there are still questions among the international driving community
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Just-auto with SABIC about STAMAX in front-end modules
Matthew Beecham from Just-Auto, talked with Robin Coppenrath, Global Business Manager of SABIC Innovative Plastics about the use of the company’s resin
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Cree Buy Ruud, BetaLED
Last week, Cree bought Ruud Lighting through a stock and cash transaction valued at approximately US$525m.
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Japan Plans New Fuel Economy Regs
Cars in the Japanese market would need to boost their fuel economy 24% by fiscal 2020 to meet the new standards being drawn up by the government.
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