At present, LED has been applied both inside and outside of automobiles, especially in the field of interior lighting. The application of color LED has become very mature, such as for panels, backlight lighting switches, car reading lights or paid display systems, or the \"Color on demand\" function used in cars, allowing car manufacturers to distinguish colors from other competitors by using their own special identification colors, or to distinguish different series of products by using color differentiation.

The Development History of LED Automotive Lights

The development of LED automotive lighting is directly related to the development of LED light sources. The phenomenon of semiconductor electroluminescence was discovered as early as 1907, but due to weak illumination, mass production was difficult and progress was slow. In 1968, the American company Monsanto introduced the MCD GaAsp\/GaAs structure red LED with a light intensity exceeding 20 microns as a breakthrough point, greatly accelerating the development of LED. Subsequently, we have developed 1000 MCD red, yellow, and green LEDs, which have been preliminarily applied in fields such as instrumentation and telecommunications signal indication, forming an early application market for LEDs. However, due to its high light intensity, the issue of light attenuation performance is not widely used in automotive lighting fixtures. Until 1990, HP in the United States and Toshiba in Japan launched red and yellow high brightness LEDs with InGaAlP\/GaAs structure with light intensity exceeding 1000 MCD. In 1993, the Japanese company invented InGaN\/Al2O3 blue and green high brightness LEDs as a symbol, paving the way for the technology and mass production of automotive light source LEDs.

LED car lights first appeared on buses in 1985, and the use of LED high mounted brake lights in the Nissan 300zx car in 1986 marked the official beginning of the LED lighting automotive era. International renowned car brands such as BMW, Cadillac, Buick, Volkswagen, Ford, Mercedes Benz, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Skoda, etc. have launched LED car lighting.

In 2005, LED automotive lighting products grew at a double-digit rate each year, with an annual output value of 546 million US dollars, accounting for 14% of the world's LED applications. In 2000, China first used LED high mounted brake lights on the Shanghai Volkswagen Santana 2000 model. China's automotive lighting LED is growing at a rate of 70% -80% annually, with a production value exceeding 100 million yuan in 2006.

Seven advantages of LED lights

The advantages of LED and incandescent lamps are more significant. A、 Long service life, generally up to tens of thousands of hours or even longer. Some people believe that if future car lighting fixtures use LEDs, the entire lifespan of the car will not require the replacement of lighting fixtures; Secondly, it is very energy-efficient, saving at least half of the energy compared to incandescent lamps of the same brightness; 3、 Light quality, basically no radiation, belongs to the \"green\" light source; 4、 The LED structure is simple, with an internal support structure and sealed with transparent epoxy resin around it, providing good seismic performance; Fifth, there is no need to preheat the start-up time, and the strong light response speed (nanosecond level) is suitable for fast moving objects; 6、 The appropriate voltage is between 6-12V, which can be used completely inside the car; 7、 LED has a small footprint, and designers can change the mode of the lighting fixtures to diversify the car's design. Automobile manufacturers favor LED, and the advantages of LED itself are completely certain.

The future development of LED lights in the automotive industry

The external applications of automobiles are also constantly developing, and LED has been adopted for brake lights, taillights, turn signals, cylinder lights, high mounted brake lights, etc., including the large-scale application of brake lights, taillights, and high mounted brake lights. As a car headlight illumination, LED is limited by technology and performance, especially in the fields of optics, electronic control, and thermal management, due to the need for high-power LED. It takes three to five years to popularize, and the industry has only begun to apply it in some high-end luxury cars.

At present, in addition to common tail lights, high mounted brake lights, etc., LED will also be widely used for turn signals and reversing lights.
In 2010, the market size of LED automotive lighting in China may exceed 1 billion yuan, and within five years, it may form an annual output value of 3 billion yuan. According to iSuppli's \"2010 LED Project Report\" released in 2009, it is expected that by 2013, about 95% of new cars will use LED in one or more taillights.
At present, the sales of LED automotive lighting applications in the market are growing at a rate of about 10% per year, but the proportion of LED automotive lighting in China is not high. The vehicles with high usage of LED are mainly concentrated in mid to high end automotive companies, and automotive companies usually have limited brand recognition for LED, making it difficult for domestic LED companies to enter their supply chain. In addition, compared with internationally renowned brands, domestic LED may have more problems in terms of daily life and unified classification. At the same time, the market supervision of automotive lighting itself is strict, and the threshold is higher. As a luxury consumer product, any quality issues with after-sales and one-on-one customers will cause complaints. Domestic LED has no opportunity to meet the standards of automotive LED after long-term large-scale experience in the market. Automotive lighting is a very professional field, and making automotive LED lighting is very difficult for both automotive lighting companies and LED companies. It requires full communication between automotive lighting companies and LED companies, especially in the development of LED automotive lighting.

According to statistics, China currently has the ability to provide cars for 20 million households, and is expected to become the world's third-largest automobile market, accounting for 6% of the global market share, second only to the United States and Japan. By 2025, the size of China's automobile market will reach the scale of the automobile market currently owned by the United States. China has become the region with the fastest growth in car sales in the world. According to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the sales revenue of domestic lighting fixtures reached over 15 billion yuan in 2009, and the proportion of LED lighting fixtures in the market has been increasing year by year. Taking Shanghai Xiaosi Lighting Company as an example, the sales revenue of LED lighting fixtures accounted for 11.7% of the sales revenue in 2009. It is expected that the sales revenue of LED lighting fixtures will reach over 15% in 2011, and by 2015, the sales revenue of LED lighting fixtures will account for over 30% of all sold lighting fixtures.

At present, there is a significant price difference between LED lights and traditional lighting fixtures, such as 120 yuan\/set for high-end cars and incandescent combination taillights, and 210 yuan\/set for LED combination lights. Therefore, the significant decrease in LED prices and the continuous improvement of luminous efficiency and heat dissipation technology are the key points for the future development of LED automotive lighting. Although there are still some issues that need to be addressed, LEDs have advantages such as small size, impact resistance, energy efficiency, and long lifespan. At the same time, they provide designers with a broader design space, all of which increase the application elements of LEDs inside and outside automobiles. With the continuous improvement of product technology and the continuous development of product types, the future will move towards safety and intelligence.