Editorial

Dear colleagues,One week after the publication of Geneva Auto Show report, Driving Vision News presents the first report focused on one car, the new BMW 7-Series.Flagship of the BMW range,…

Automakers and design houses used the show to display more than 15 concept cars and 20 new production cars for markets round the world. These sorts of numbers are normally…

Around 15 concept cars and 20 production cars — a number close to economic boom times — made their world debuts at the 79th Geneva Auto Show.
As a lighting expert who has been visiting motor shows for decades, I have been looking for any visible spark of innovation in design, style, or technology associated with front or rear lighting and will publish my report to Gold members on March 17, 2009.

These debut cars are sexy, stylish, and innovative thanks to headlamp and rear lamp design contributions, but the promotional buzz seldom includes much mention of the lighting equipment. Neither do the podiums highlight headlamp or rear lamp technologies. And still, obviously, lighting design remains one of the key differentiating factors in brand and model identity recognition.
It's time we make some noise, isn't it? Aside from the ecological and energy consumption paradigm, which we should give more attention in our automotive lighting communication, isn’t there place for other dreams? Couldn’t LEDs with their wonderful and flexible design possibilities open innovative avenues to attract new car buyers?

And still, we have materials to convince designers and to communicate:
- Xenon lights which have taken us so far ahead in nighttime safety
- Adaptive lighting, high beam assistant, non glaring high beam. Less than one decade ago, all these technologies were just an expert's wild dream.
- LEDs with wonderful possibilities
- Styling optics for non functional parts

Xenon headlights give better safety performance than halogen lights; it’s been demonstrated repeatedly. Watch next week for our interview with Lex Krzyzanowsky, chairman of LightSightSafety, an initiative to promote Xenon…

Are lighting regulations necessarily adverse to new technologies? Discuss…! Theoretically, lighting regulation assures a uniform, minimally adequate level of safety performance from all regulated devices, and can help prevent reputable…

At DVN, we’re busily interviewing outstanding expert in our field to bring their views and insights to you. Today, you’ll find our interview with Geoffrey Draper, who introduces himself and…

Last week, DVN presented an overview of the Intelligent Automotive Lighting congress which was held at Frankfurt. Our full in-depth report is now available for DVN Gold members at www.DrivingVisionNews.com.…

There's a great deal to learn at a good technical congress, symposium, or motor show. An example is the IQCP Intelligent automotive lighting congress.
I attended this congress with some doubts of its cost-benefit. Today, I can assure you I have no regret for the time and cost of my 2 days' participation. The volume and quality of the information presented made it very much worthwhile.
Frost & Sullivan presented information on the global auto lighting market, drivers and restraints, forecasts — LED headlamp revenue of €600m by 2015! — cost-benefits, consumer perceptions, and new opportunities.
GM's director of advanced design gave a presentation about how lighting can create a brand signature and enhance perceived quality. There was extensive information on advanced simulation and testing, new processes in headlamp development, enhanced analysis methods, and regulatory updates and roadmaps.
BMW and Honda gave very informative talks about their latest driver assistance technologies.
There was a great deal of discussion around the potential of new technologies like EL foil and OLEDs.

In this economic crunch time, of course your company is taking every opportunity to save money everywhere.

What are the 4 main benefits to being a Driving Vision News subscriber? 1) Breaking information delivered each week on what happened in the last 8 days in the realms…