Volkswagen Adds LEDs to Exterior Lighting

For the first time, Volkswagen has included LEDs (light-emitting diodes) in the exterior brake, position and turn signal lights of its newly revamped Pasat.

LED lights have long been used in car cockpits to illuminate control functions. Now they are gradually being adopted for exterior lights and replacing more common xenon and halogen bulbs.

Although LEDs are new additions for car tail lamps and rear window brakes, innovative car designers are increasingly turning to clusters of LEDs to substitute for conventional forward lights, or headlights. Designers recognize that LED technology, which is compact, durable and not liable to be broken by bumps and potholes, may also be more flexible than traditional lighting giving designers greater flexibility in how they place lights on the front of a car and how light is distributed in the front of the car.