In-depth Lighting

We took the chance to visit APT LED manufacturing plant in Guangzhou during my trip to Shenzhen. APT was originated from Advanced Photoelectronic Technology, a Hong Kong company founded in 2003 by David Xiao (a cofounder) and incubated by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). I

In China, competition is fierce. Non-Chinese automakers are losing market share, and are launching new cars with totally new designs and approaches to entice customers back. They take risks and put a lot of effort into design. OLED technology for the Nissan N7 and the lit bumper on the Audi A5, the lit grille on the Mercedes CLA and Mazda EZ60—these are just a few of many examples.

UTAC, the Union Technique de l’Automobile du motocycle et du Cycle (Technical Union of the Automobile, Motorcycle, and Bicycle), was founded in 1945. Since 1946, it has been based in Montlhéry, France—near the famous Autodrome de Linas-Montléry which opened in 1924.

GRE, the Working Party on Lighting and Light-Signaling, is the subsidiary body of the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) which prepares regulatory proposals on active safety, specifically regarding vehicle lighting. 

BYD’s exhibition hall occupies two floors, and the staff gave us a detailed introduction (in fluent English) to BYD’s 30-year development history and major technological breakthroughs, including blade batteries, the DM-i super hybrid system, their e-platform, Yi Sifang and Yun Nian, and so much more. 

Euro NCAP have revealed the safest models they tested in 2024. Best-in-class winners included the Škoda Superb and Volkswagen Passat (twins winning jointly), the Mazda CX-80, and the Zeekr X.

After the short introduction of the team and office, with focus on Mercedes-Benz and AMG passenger cars, it did not take us a long time to talk about the major team delivery of the last 10 years—Digital Light. Indeed, Stefan joined the Mercedes lighting team in 2008 and worked most of the time on the intelligent lighting system, including Multibeam LED and digital light.

In order to prepare for the upcoming DVN Tokyo event, I took time to analyse in detail the Japanese automotive market. For that I used the data from JAMA (Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association), JADA (Japan Automobile Dealer association) and Marklines database.

By Eric Blusseau, Legal expert […]

Numerous great presentations were made […]