TrendForce 2022 Global Automotive LED Product Trend and Regional Market Analysis- Business Reimagined

According to TrendForce’s “2022 Global Automotive LED Product Trend and Regional Market Analysis,” although the vehicle market demand has shrunk due to the Russia–Ukraine War and COVID-19 pandemic in China, the automotive LED market demand has steadily increased in 2022 thanks to the increasing LED headlight penetration and rise of advanced technologies such as those for intelligent headlamps, logo lamps, (intelligent) ambient lights, and Mini LED / HDR automotive displays. TrendForce has analyzed the development in the automotive LED market from five perspectives—automotive lighting and display product trends, automotive lamp player revenue and product strategies, lamp prices, LED player revenue performance and product strategies, and LED product prices—so as to provide readers with a comprehensive understanding of trends in the automotive LED market.

Topic I. Automotive Lighting Product Trend

Conventional OEM and electric vehicle manufacturers worldwide have strived to enhance the LED headlight penetration rate, aiming to achieve competitive differentiation for a higher market share. Therefore, expanding the automotive lighting market has become a common goal shared by car makers, automotive lamp manufacturers, and LED manufacturers. Automotive Lighting Trends will Move towards Personalization, Communication Display and Driver Assistance.

1.      Headlight

According to TrendForce, the global penetration rate of LED headlights for passenger cars reached 60% in 2021, among which the that of LED headlights for electric cars hit 90%; the two figures are likely to climb to 72% and 92% in 2022.

Currently, ADB headlights adopt the matrix LED design with 12-100 LED dies for each headlight. With high-performance LEDs that can be controlled individually, car makers have been embracing ADB headlights because of their two major advantages for drivers and other road users as follows:

a. The ADB headlight helps expand drivers’ field of view (FoV) at nighttime and in turn reduce their reaction time when driving around obstacles, thereby providing better road lighting.

b. The Glare-Free High Beam reduces discomfort for drivers of vehicles ahead, those of oncoming vehicles, and prevents pedestrians from being illuminated by headlights.

The Micro LED pixel array helps increase the number of pixels available for accurate, independent digital control in ADB headlights to 10,000-30,000 pixels. The more the number of LEDs, the more flexible the illumination area adjustment, hence greater driving safety. In addition, greater flexibility means that manufacturers can change light distribution settings as per the local regulations in question. In this way, automotive lamp suppliers can cut development, production, and logistics costs for regional ADB headlight markets.

According to TrendForce’s analysis, the market penetration rate of ADB headlights is estimated to achieve a spectacular growth from 3.2% in 2022 to 13.2% in 2026.

2.      Logo Lamp

Logo Lamp / Full Width Front Strip is the design for the front end of automobiles. Unlike conventional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEV), electric vehicles can realize heat dissipation, intake and combustion without the use of an active engine cooling system and a radiator grille. Thus, automakers add the said design at the grille for individualized demonstration, animation, and interaction display. This feature is not only used as a distinctive identification mark for electric vehicles, but also can be used to further highlight the personalized design of each car manufacturer's brand.

Automakers introducing logo lamp mainly include Mercedes Benz EQS, Volkswagen ID.3 / ID.4, BYD, Xpeng P5, Changan Ford Mondeo, Sony VISION-S 02, etc. And Hella and Hyundai Mobis are the main system integrators who drive the application of this design. As they proactively bring in logo lamp, sensors are likely to be integrated into this design, aiming to reduce design complexity and eliminate the coordination with tier-2 suppliers.

3.      (Intelligent) Ambient Light

As TrendForce reported, ambient lights have been long used by European and Chinese automakers. The intelligent ambient light comprises RGB LEDs driven by built-in ICs, which has a simple circuitry and high application flexibility with abilities to realize full-color mixing and dynamic scenarios as well as create specified cabin atmosphere. The intelligent product will be applied to advanced vehicles in Europe starting in 2022 and gradually expand to other markets, hence the promising growth of its market value.  

Topic II. Automotive Display Product Trend

Panel suppliers reveal that the future trend of automotive display design will focus on the whole-car display that is 1.5-meter wide, display with an unusual form, transparent display, or high-resolution display (250 ppi). In the long run, the automotive display market is highly promising.

Mini LED / HDR Market Demand

In response to the demand for HDR, local dimming, and wide color gamut features, Car makers promoting Mini LED / HDR automotive displays include General Motors, Ford, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, NIO, Roewe RX5, Li L9, etc. LED specification includes 2016 / 3030 LED and 1515 CSP LED.

Micro LED transparent displays are extremely suitable for retail spaces and car window display. Serving as devices presenting outdoor advertising and in-cabin entertainment information, automotive transparent displays—when being applied to smart vehicles in the future—can create a new era of mobility communication featuring ADAS, autonomous driving, and car sharing.

Topic III. Automotive Lamp Market Scale and Player Strategies

According to TrendForce’s surveys and analyses, stimulated by rising car shipments and increasing LED lighting penetration, the global automotive lighting market scale hit USD 31.423 billion in 2021. The top five automotive lamp manufacturers were Koito, Valeo, Marelli Automotive Lighting, Hella, and Stanley, totaling a 65% market share.

Topic IV. Automotive Lamp Price Analysis

According to a survey on headlight product prices compiled by TrendForce, different from the past practice where car makers often reduce automotive lighting product prices every year, soaring plastic costs this year will possibly cause headlight prices to be either maintained at the same level or even raised.

Topic V. Automotive LED Player Revenue Performance

With rising car shipments and increasing LED lighting penetration, TrendForce reported that the global automotive LED market scale hit USD 3.543 billion in 2021. According to TrendForce’s survey, leading automotive LED suppliers remained unaffected in late 2021 regarding order placements as car makers requested continued production—although semiconductor constraints forced some car makers to halt production in September. The top three automotive LED suppliers total a 72% market share, says TrendForce, compared to a dominant 96% share secured by the top ten players.

Authors: Joanne, Allen, Christine / TrendForce

TrendForce 2022 Global Automotive LED Product Trend and Regional Market Analysis
Release Date:
1. PDF(123 Pages)- 30 June 2022
2. EXCEL- 30 June 2022 and 31 December 2022
Languages: Traditional Chinese / English