Accelerated Penetration of LED and Upgrading of Automotive Lighting Technology D
Industry Logic: High Starting Point, Great Elasticity and Long-lasting Growth – A High-quality Sub-sector of Auto Components
Guosen Automotive maintains in-depth coverage of the automotive lighting industry and firmly holds the view that automotive lighting features three major attributes: high starting point, great elasticity and long-lasting growth. In the short term, LED lights will gain wider adoption; in the long run, growing penetration of smart lighting and laser headlights will turn this segment into a high-quality niche track among auto components. This report mainly analyzes the penetration rate and market scale of LED and ADB lighting in the automotive lighting industry, examines lighting configurations of major automakers, and sorts out new lighting technologies adopted by new energy vehicle startups.
Automotive Lighting Industry: LED Penetration Reached 68% in 2020; ADB Penetration Stood at 6%
The penetration rate of LED headlights among new vehicles kept rising, surging from 23% in 2018 to 68% in 2020. LED lighting has now been widely deployed across entry-level, mid-range and premium models. The adoption path follows this trajectory: initially equipped on luxury ABB brands → LED becomes standard for domestic premium vehicles priced above 300,000 RMB → mid-range models gradually shift to LED lighting → high-spec variants of entry-level models adopt LED.
ADB (Adaptive Driving Beam) can significantly improve driving experience and safety. Currently, vehicles fitted with ADB account for roughly 6% of total passenger vehicle sales. ADB is expected to become the next major growth driver following LED lighting.
Key Automakers: Volkswagen, Toyota and GM Accelerate LED Adoption; BYD Boasts High ADB Penetration
By brand, new energy vehicle manufacturers achieve higher LED penetration than traditional automakers. BYD’s LED penetration hits 80%, and all Tesla models come with standard LED lighting. Among fuel vehicle brands, Volkswagen, Toyota and GM lead in LED adoption, with penetration rates exceeding 60%.
In addition, some best-selling BYD models are factory-fitted with ADB headlights, delivering an ADB penetration rate of 42%. For traditional automakers represented by Volkswagen and GM, ADB penetration stands at 7% and 5% respectively.
New EV Startups Accelerate Commercialization of Ambient Lighting, DLP Projection Headlights and Other New Technologies
Headlights: NIO, XPEV and Li Auto all adopt LED lighting, with designs focusing on technology and intelligence. The Light Sword 2.0 through-type LED light on XPEV P7 supports light show animation. IM Motors, jointly developed by SAIC and Alibaba, is equipped with 2.6-million-pixel DLP projection headlights that enable integrated V2X intelligent driving interaction.
Taillights: NIO adopts through-type heartbeat taillights; XPEV uses integrated diamond matrix taillights; Li Auto features star-ring full-LED taillights — all are LED-based. IM Motors is fitted with ISC pixel signal lights containing more than 5,000 LEDs to realize intelligent light expression.
Ambient Lighting: NIO provides intelligent 10-color ambient lights and waterfall-style ambient lighting to highlight stylish and intelligent features.